"Who Are You, Galway, NY?"

So often when we think or talk about history, we are referring to the distant past. I propose that history is the present moment passing by. I have a strong belief that things in life happen for a reason and that everything we learn and do up to a certain point in time is practice for the moment when we are called. This project is one of my callings.

The fire for this project started shortly after I moved to Galway from San Francisco in 1985, but I had just finished an eight month cross-country journey photographing America and I needed time to process my work and to adjust to my new home. The actual beginning happened in 1994 when I photographed George Quick, a neighbor up the road with a charming personality that owned a gas station and garage that was quickly becoming obsolete in a world of brand name stores. I realized then that rural Galway could disappear along with its longtime residents. I wanted to learn about the people who live here: what sort of work they do, what are their hobbies and passions, did they have families, were they born here or where did they come from and why do they stay? However, my project had to smolder for a while as I got side-tracked with the Hong Kong project, and then my husband's job took us to Connecticut for four years.

Returning in 2004, my life for the next five years was absorbed in renovating our third Galway home. I was just too drained to bring my art-life to life, but luckily, I was invited to join the Library's Story Quilt Poetry project. It exposed me to things I never knew about Galway’s past and present culture, it opened many doors of opportunity and I got intimately acquainted with the people of my community. The fire I had suppressed for so long ignited.

I pondered what the focus and name would be for my project. It needed something else besides the photos to make it whole. Then one day it came to me: “Who Are You, Galway, NY?”  I would ask each person I photographed to answer that question, and if there were more than one in the picture, I’d also ask: “Who Are We?”  Their answers had to fit on a Post-It note. This is the beauty of the project: to make a sweet, concise composition that visually and with a few powerful words describes the essence of my subject’s life.

I was awarded an Artist Grant* in 2009 to do exactly what I’d been exploring for years. I decided to concentrate on the elders of the community first. I felt that they had the old stories to tell, many etched on their faces or visible on their bodies. I wanted to befriend my neighbors and to bring forth with compassion, a portrait of who they are.

Thus far I have photographed 50 people. Each photographic session takes two or more hours. My subjects pick their own props, the clothes they want to wear and the location of the shoot. We begin by talking while perhaps having tea and cookies, walking the property or viewing their home. After taking the photos, I ask the question: sometimes the answer comes quick, sometimes we discuss it, and they all sign a model's release.

I always make return visits to drop off photos but mostly to talk with these special people who have let me into their lives, have shared their heartfelt desires and have trusted me with some of their secrets. I’ve asked them about their ailments and have seen how each deals with what life has handed them. I've experienced their deep inner strength and marvel at their tenacity and fortitude. I’ve learned about the joy of listening; been rewarded as an artist for my patience; been given insights into myself through new friendships.

I continue to work at this project every year but not as intensely as in 2009 and I've expanded the project to people outside of Galway. So the project is now simply entitled: Who Are You?

Every time I push the shutter of my camera, I know that I’m recording history. All these people are here now and they matter. Years from now these images and words will be on hand for future generations to ponder. The present moment is only that—a moment—and after that, the rest is history.

*Saratoga Program for Arts Funding (SPAF) is funded by the Decentralization Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), a re-grant program administered by Saratoga Arts.