KDPP Virtual Exhibition - Ted Wathen Aerial Photographs of the Ohio
Kentucky along the Ohio: From Paducah to Ashland
(click on the blog post title up top for best view of this article and photos)
The aerial photographs of the Ohio River seen in this virtual exhibition are by Ted Wathen, who took them with the aid of architect and pilot Jeff Smith. The photographs are a joint project of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance and the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project.
The Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project was started as a The Kentucky Bicentennial Photographic Project in 1975, and ran until 1977 with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Kentucky Arts Commission, The American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, and corporate and private foundations. The partners, Ted Wathen, Bob Hower and Bill Burke, photographed in every county in Kentucky. They were inspired by the Farm Security Administration photographers who were employed during the Great Depression as part of FDR’s vision to share the plight of rural America and let the public know that the Roosevelt administration had their interests at heart. Ben Shahn, John Vachon, Russell Lee, and Marion Post Wolcott were among the very gifted photographers assigned to Kentucky. The Farm Security Administration ran from 1935 to 1943.
Other models for the original KDPP photographers were Robert Frank and August Sander. Frank’s seminal work, The Americans, was a fresh look at documentary photography through the eyes of a Swiss immigrant. August Sander (1876-1964), attempted with a sociologist’s zeal to photograph every profession and every level of German society. He called his project, “People of the 20th Century.”
Working into 1977, the Project changed its name to the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project. The Project’s “final” show was exhibited at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York and subsequently at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where it is in their permanent collection. The museum will put a selection of the Kentucky prints on view later this year.
Following a very successful showing of the original Kentucky Documentary Photography Project in a 2011-2012 exhibition titled “Rough Road,” Bob Hower and Ted Wathen decided to revive their county–by-county look at the Commonwealth. And, they evolved a broader more ambitious project to re-look at Kentucky every 40 years. Starting in 2015, the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project began photographing Kentucky anew. Wathen and Hower are still very actively involved, but they have recruited a diverse group of younger photographers with varied viewpoints and fresh eyes. The new photographers include Alyssa Schukar, Brittany Greeson, Zed Saeed, Ross Gordon, Harrison Hill, Rachel Boillot, and Sarah Lyon. The intention is to plant the seeds for another iteration in 2060 or thereabouts, continuing a visual survey of Kentucky every 40 years.
The Ohio River borders Kentucky’s northern and western borders, flowing along more than 450 miles of the state’s perimeter. Will portions of Ohio River shores remain heavily industrialized? Bob Hower remarks, “photographs are time machines. They gain value as time passes.” Wathen adds, “we are making visual history,” and comments on their current use of aerial and drone shots, which greatly expands the potential information the Kentucky Documentary Photography Project can impart. The ambition to celebrate the beauty of the Ohio River, to heal the River, and to fulfill its unmet potential will rely on visual records like these Ohio River images.
All Photos ©Ted Wathen / Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project / Kentucky Waterways Alliance.
Another KDPP exhibition, which includes some of the views of the Ohio River, is on view at Louisville’s Metro Hall (Formerly the Jefferson County Courthouse). “Looking at Kentucky Anew…The Kentucky Documentary Photography Project” remains up until through February 29, 2020.