David L Hunsberger - The Mennonite Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vds6wcfmWU&feature=youtu.be

I have been working on this project for the last two years and we are finally getting it out to the public. Dave I knew back in the 70's , he was a gentle giant of a man and made
an impression on me.

I am very honoured to exhibit his work at my space.

fine

This is very fine photography. Fascinating glimpses of the past. I'd love to see the exhibition. I grew up in the U. S. Midwest 3/4 of a century ago and there were many groups of people there who followed the old ways. Some of them we called "Hook and Eye Dutch" because they did not believe in newfangled buttons on clothes and were originally from Deutschland (Germany), which sounds like "Dutch" to some folks.

snapguy said:

This is very fine photography. Fascinating glimpses of the past. .

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I agree and really it is the very near past or may be still the present. No suggestion that the traditional community or its beliefs have died out. If you had found yourself in trouble on your travels then this seems like the kind of social cohesiveness where the first instinct is to help rather than to take advantage of the unfortunate.

pentaxuser

Thank you

Interesting photos. Other than the cars and some of the hairstyles, those pictures could have been taken in the Mennonite and Hutterite communities that surrounded my town in rural Manitoba. My best friend was a Mennonite, but her family was a bit more liberal, living in town and dressing like everyone else. Even when I moved to Toronto I would sometimes come across Mennonites (usually from the Waterloo area) at the museum where I worked (we had a Mennonite meeting hall there) and we would inevitably find some connection to people we both knew.

I enjoyed this a lot. Thank you for sharing.

Very nice -- this area (NW of Philadelphia) has many Mennonites and Hunsberger is a pretty common name. The art club I belong to has been having an annual membership exhibition in a local museum, The Mennonite Heritage Center. Somehow through that my retired self got talked into participating in a strategic planning group for changing exhibitions in the museum. (Must be my work ethic, sure ain't my religion!) So I get to keep a bit in touch with the culture past and present. The center plus two other history oriented museums did a joint project a couple of years back photographing and documenting heirloom textiles and quilts. There obviously were few idle hands back in the day!

Thanks for posting the link.

Very rarely in ones life do all the cards make sense... I grew up in Woodstock Ontario where on Sat mornings in the 50's we would make the journey to Kitchener Ontario to go to
the outdoor market.. I have eaten the food produced on the land we see being worked in his project. I played shinny on ponds exactly like you see in some of his images (though no girls were allowed in
our games) I have walked through farmers fields that are portrayed here, and as a young man just emerging from college I met Dave Hunsberger at the local PPO meetings. He was very helpful and generous with his time with me... Fast forward 35 years and I happened to meet a man who had images of barn raising that I printed.. I mentioned that these images were some of the most favourite of mine to print in a long time.. He said well my father has over 10,000 negatives like this...

Though not from a farming culture.. I lived at the edge of town in a time where you could walk a mile and visit a farm, work if you wished, and we all knew what 4h ribbons meant to a proud owner.
I hope that this project moves to other Locations Dave T I would like to contact The Mennonite Heritage Center.. if you are able to make introductions ..
The exhibit is growing.. right now we have 24 pt pd prints , 10 silver gelatin murals, and 24 ink on paper...

The exhibit is now currently showing at The Conrad Grebel Museum... in one of the slides you see the originators breaking earth for this very museum. It will be at The Dylan Ellis Gallery for March and in July
at the Berlin Gallery in Kitchener Ontario..

We are very interested in moving this project to appropriate venues internationally. any leads would be very helpful.

If I did not take up Photography, I think in retrospect I would be a farmer.

AgX I tried to return you pm's not sure you got them
something seems funky at my end with the sent pm function.

Bob

Here is the invite for the Toronto Show in March

Dave I sent you a Pm but I do not think it got through..
could you send me an email bob@bobcarnieprintmaking.ca

thanks

DWThomas said:

Very nice -- this area (NW of Philadelphia) has many Mennonites and Hunsberger is a pretty common name. The art club I belong to has been having an annual membership exhibition in a local museum, The Mennonite Heritage Center. Somehow through that my retired self got talked into participating in a strategic planning group for changing exhibitions in the museum. (Must be my work ethic, sure ain't my religion!) So I get to keep a bit in touch with the culture past and present. The center plus two other history oriented museums did a joint project a couple of years back photographing and documenting heirloom textiles and quilts. There obviously were few idle hands back in the day!

Thanks for posting the link.

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