Deadpan

[Nodda Duma]

. So I'd argue that unhappiness/hard life is not necessarily tied into financial resources.

Life is harder without money in the world we live in. But you'll get no argument from me that it is tied to unhappiness. It just makes life harder is all. Or, to speak more positively...a hard life makes you more resilient. With resilience you're more likely to have a positive outlook. How is that?

Blansky you have good points. I should have pointed out that I wasn't trying to refer to xenophobia or suspicion although reading back through I suppose my choice of words indicates that. But rather a more neutral evaluation or at worst a wariness. I posted those specific portraits to reflect this. Johnny Cash's look isn't that of a suspicious person. Just wondering if you're worth his time. As you mention, rural folks are often good-hearted people who often follow the lesson from the Bible to judge not lest ye be judged...even for strangers and city-folk. . As you can tell my experience is with the Bible Belt.


Of course my point of view is dated to some extent. The loss of cottage industry (manufacturing) and small farms, the increasing imbalance of welfare vs hard work as well as the rise of meth and other drugs have savaged rural America. Sorry trying not to be political but rural America has changed significantly over the past three decades.

 

[blansky]

Life is harder without money in the world we live in. But you'll get no argument from me that it is tied to unhappiness. It just makes life harder is all. Or, to speak more positively...a hard life makes you more resilient. With resilience you're more likely to have a positive outlook. How is that?

Blansky you have good points. I should have pointed out that I wasn't trying to refer to xenophobia or suspicion although reading back through I suppose my choice of words indicates that. But rather a more neutral evaluation or at worst a wariness. I posted those specific portraits to reflect this. Johnny Cash's look isn't that of a suspicious person. Just wondering if you're worth his time. As you mention, rural folks are often good-hearted people who often follow the lesson from the Bible to judge not lest ye be judged...even for strangers and city-folk. . As you can tell my experience is with the Bible Belt.


Of course my point of view is dated to some extent. The loss of cottage industry (manufacturing) and small farms, the increasing imbalance of welfare vs hard work as well as the rise of meth and other drugs have savaged rural America. Sorry trying not to be political but rural America has changed significantly over the past three decades.

Your comments about rural America are interesting. For me, I've never really been there. In Canada I had small urban and some rural roots but that's a different country where there is not the poverty that exists in parts of the US. (In Native Canadian Peoples there are though).

What is quite interesting in your comments though, a lot of "city slicker" photographers have ventured out into the rural areas, to take those "deadpan" "character" type portraits over the years.