Inspire Me Monday: Larry Towell

There are always a million reasons not to make the big commitment. Let's face it, we don't have the time or the money. Our paying work is keeping us too busy, and we're behind on a hundred other things that seem more important than the long term photo project.

That's why this week I decided to focus on the work of Larry Towell who shows us that if you invest time into your subjects than that intimate knowledge comes out in a powerful way in your photographs. I saw Larry's work on with the Mennonites for the first time this summer while going through the Engaged Observers exhibit at the Getty museum. The shot of the family at the table blew me away, those reflections are AMAZING! You can't deny the technical quality of his work, but the truth is that the story as a whole really drew me in.

When a Mennonite loses his land, a bit of his human dignity is forfeited; so is his financial solvency. He becomes a migrant worker, an exile who will spend the rest of his life drifting among fruit trees and vegetable vines, dreaming of owning his own farm some day. But for these who struggle with God at the end of a hoe, the refuge of land, Church, and community may be at least a generation away.
—Larry Towell (Canadian, born 1953), The Mennonites, 2000

The Old Colony Mennonites are a nonconformist Protestant sect related to the Amish that originated in Europe in the 1500s. Over the centuries, they have migrated between countries to preserve their way of life, living in colonies where faith and tradition are intertwined and modern amenities.The complex history of the Mennonite people, and the simplicity of their way of life are two contradicting factors that draw you in their world.

Towell’s work documented the Mennonites’ way of life for the historical record and inspires greater understanding today for a group whose attempts to embrace life could be easily overlooked. In spending a decade on a subject that would be of only passing interest to mainstream media, he asserts a form of visual reporting in which reflection takes precedence over profitability and immediacy.

Larry worked on this project for over a decade. Yes, that's right, a DECADE! So throw away all of those excuses, and be inspired to go big. Be it a month, a year, or five years, you can be the author of a visual story that deserves to be told! As for me, two years in Lusaka seems like a good place to start!