Peter Feldstein is an artist working at the intersection of
photography, drawing, printmaking, and digital imaging. He has
shown at Just Above Midtown Gallery, Vibeke Levy Gallery, and
Exposure Gallery (NYC), Roy Boyd Gallery (Chicago), Sherry Leedy
Contemporary Art (Kansas City), and Olson-Larson Galleries (Des
Moines). Feldstein's work has been included in group exhibits at
the Center for Creative Photography, Walker Art Center, and the
Rhode Island School of Design. He has received an NEA Individual
Artist's Grant and two Polaroid Collection Grants. For more than
three decades, Feldstein taught photography and digital imaging at
the University of Iowa School of Art & Art History.
Stephen G. Bloom is the author of "Postville: A Clash of Cultures
in Heartland America "(Harcourt, 2000). He also is the author of a
collection of nonfiction stories, "Inside the Writer's Mind
"(2002). Bloom has worked as a staff writer for "The Los Angeles
Times," "Dallas Morning News," "Sacramento Bee," and "San Jose
Mercury News. "His book, "Tears of Mermaids: A Secret History,"
will be published by St. Martin's Press in September 2009. Since
1993, Bloom has taught at the University of Iowa, where he
specializes in narrative writing.
"For my Creative Writing students the portraits in "The Oxford
Project" really are worth a thousand words. When used as writing
prompts, the transformative nature of the portraits help my
students practice crafting characters. The portraits have also
inspired my students to bring in portraits of themselves as
children which they use to spark pieces of writing that explore
connections between the yesterday of their childhood and the today
of their teen years. This year students will use the Oxford Project
as a template to create their own Oxford Project that focuses on
the childhood portrait of a relative or neighbor they know who is
from an older generation."
--"Junius Wright," Academic Magnet High School
"I opened the book for a quick browse and read it from cover to
cover before I realized it was nearly three in the morning on a
school night, but a more temperate reader would likely enjoy
flipping through a section or even opening it to a random page.
Photo majors, and anyone else interested in the human condition,
should not miss The Oxford Project."
--"DCAD Delaware College of Art & Design"
http: //dcadlibrary.wordpress.com
"What we have in this spellbinding and ambitious and eccentric
volume is 'Our Town' and 'Spoon River Anthology' updated and
revivified. We also have journalism, in words and in images, at its
heart-stopping best and its most poignant...by the final page you
feel as if you have both read a novel and seen a movie
simultaneously."
--"Nieman Reports"
"Then-and-now portraits, shown side-by-side, tell one powerful
story; in accompanying texts, their beautiful testimonials to time
and life and people tell another."
--NPR.org, Best Gift Books 2008
"Each picture is worth a thousand words, and each pair of portraits
is a fair trade for an entire novel."
--NPR, "Morning Edition"
"The product is a hard-to-put-down coffee-table book, with big,
striking then-and-now portraits, that pulls you deep
"What we have in this spellbinding and ambitious and eccentric
volume is 'Our Town' and 'Spoon River Anthology' updated and
revivified. We also have journalism, in words and in images, at its
heart-stopping best and its most poignant...by the final page you
feel as if you have both read a novel and seen a movie
simultaneously."
--"Nieman Reports"
"Then-and-now portraits, shown side-by-side, tell one powerful
story; in accompanying texts, their beautiful testimonials to time
and life and people tell another."
--NPR.org, Best Gift Books 2008
"Each picture is worth a thousand words, and each pair of portraits
is a fair trade for an entire novel."
--NPR, "Morning Edition"
"The product is a hard-to-put-down coffee-table book, with big,
striking then-and-now portraits, that pulls you deep into
small-town America, with its almost excessive joys. The danger of
such a project is that it can make caricatures out of real people -
but this book stays true to its life-worn subjects and to the
complexities of what would seem to be the most simple of
places."
--"The Atlantic"
"People don't get much more real than this, and there's a
heartbreaking, forensic pleasure in paging through the book to
stare at the pictures for minutes at a time, looking at the
thousands of ways in which the years change each of us."
--"The Washington Post"
"The Oxford Project is an homage to Americana, a photographic
record of small-town America and the story of intertwined lives. It
is about history, personal and collective, and that ubiquitous
force: change. This book, like the facets of human features, is so
intriguing, it is nearly impossible to put down."
--"The San Antonio Current"
"There's something truly remarkable about this book. Art and
historical artifact, "The Oxford Project" provides a glimpse into a
real America - not the one dreamed up, and exploited, by pandering
politicians (at every point on the political spectrum). This is the
real thing, riveting and revelatory.
..."The Oxford Project" is like a still-life documentary, a
narrative about change. This huge, handsome book, with its gatefold
photographs, its maps and memories, offers a fascinating piece of
contemporary history, a treasure of social and cultural
commentary."
--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Honest, gripping, and incredibly moving...The book design is
brilliantly conceived and beautifully produced."
--"Black and White" magazine
"Fascinating...a time capsule that offers the reader a unique
glimpse of the changing face of life in small town America...a fine
addition to your personal library."
--"Shutterbug" magazine
"What a marvelous way to get at 'who we are' as people. This
powerful, confessional book draws its strength from the truth that
so-called ordinary people, not those with bold-faced names, are
actually the heroes of our American drama."
--Ken Burns, Emmy award-winning director of "The Civil War"
"Cleverly designed and artfully illustrated. Of significance to
humanities scholars and socials scientists, as well as general
readers, this work provides a good glimpse of small town
America."
--"Library Journal"
"[The] images are a fascinating look at how people age and develop,
a kind of real life 'before' and 'after' experiment...an intriguing
look at small town America."
--Bookpage
"These photographs and stories are Americandocumentary work at its
finest."
--Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
""The Oxford Project "is an extraordinary undertaking and a
fascinating book. These magnificent photos and oral histories make
for a can't-put-it-down-read, and prove that the stories we find
all around us are the most interesting and important of all. You'll
be awed by the poetry in the words, dreams, and faces of Oxford,
Iowa.
--Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps
"A coffee table book that will lead to many discussions. "The
Oxford Project" is also a book to read cover to cover. It is a
record of humanity during the last years of the 20th century.
Everyone will find something of themselves in the people of
Oxford."
--Nancy Quinn, Marketing Director, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"The arresting lenticular photograph on the cover of this book is a
boy, Hunter Tandy in 1984, and as a man in 2005. The diversity of
human experiences is engrossing and the photos are captivating.
This is an American small town's story but also the story of
American lives. Humane, poignant, but also a work of art, "The
Oxford Project" deserves to be in every library and home to remind
us of who our neighbors are."
--Catherine Wallberg. Buyer, Harry W. Scwhartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"To stumble upon a small town like Oxford is one thing - to be able
to consider its whole population face by face, at your own leisure,
is something else entirely."
--from the Preface, by Gerald Stern
"This book was amazing. Amazing. Many things about people are
immutable - often residents would stand the same way for their
portraits 20 years apart without noticing it. So much of who we are
is shaped by howothers see us, but clearly at our core we are all
our own person."
--SomewhatBookish.blogspot.com
"The whole endeavor in question is both simple and simply
amazing...taken slowly and allowed to unfold (much like the project
itself), The Oxford Project had much to reveal and does so
beautifully."
--CorridorBuzz.com
"Then-and-now portraits, shown side-by-side, tell one powerful
story; in accompanying texts, their beautiful testimonials to time
and life and people tell another."
--NPR.org, Best Gift Books 2008
"Each picture is worth a thousand words, and each pair of portraits
is a fair trade for an entire novel."
--NPR, "Morning Edition"
"The product is a hard-to-put-down coffee-table book, with big,
striking then-and-now portraits, that pulls you deep into
small-town America, with its almost excessive joys. The danger of
such a project is that it can make caricatures out of real people -
but this book stays true to its life-worn subjects and to the
complexities of what would seem to be the most simple of
places."
--"The Atlantic"
"People don't get much more real than this, and there's a
heartbreaking, forensic pleasure in paging through the book to
stare at the pictures for minutes at a time, looking at the
thousands of ways in which the years change each of us."
--"The Washington Post"
"The Oxford Project is an homage to Americana, a photographic
record of small-town America and the story of intertwined lives. It
is about history, personal and collective, and that ubiquitous
force: change. This book, like the facets of human features, is so
intriguing, it is nearly impossible to put down."
--"The San Antonio Current"
"There's something truly remarkable about this book. Art and
historical artifact, "The Oxford Project" provides a glimpse into a
real America - not the one dreamed up, and exploited, by pandering
politicians (at every point on the political spectrum). This is the
real thing, riveting and revelatory.
..."The Oxford Project" is like a still-lifedocumentary, a
narrative about change. This huge, handsome book, with its gatefold
photographs, its maps and memories, offers a fascinating piece of
contemporary history, a treasure of social and cultural
commentary."
--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Honest, gripping, and incredibly moving...The book design is
brilliantly conceived and beautifully produced."
--B"lack and White" magazine
"What a marvelous way to get at 'who we are' as people. This
powerful, confessional book draws its strength from the truth that
so-called ordinary people, not those with bold-faced names, are
actually the heroes of our American drama."
--Ken Burns, Emmy award-winning director of "The Civil War"
"Cleverly designed and artfully illustrated. Of significance to
humanities scholars and socials scientists, as well as general
readers, this work provides a good glimpse of small town
America."
--"Library Journal"
"[The] images are a fascinating look at how people age and develop,
a kind of real life 'before' and 'after' experiment...an intriguing
look at small town America."
--Bookpage
"These photographs and stories are American documentary work at its
finest."
--Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
""The Oxford Project "is an extraordinary undertaking and a
fascinating book. These magnificent photos and oral histories make
for a can't-put-it-down-read, and prove that the stories we find
all around us are the most interesting and important of all. You'll
be awed by the poetry in the words, dreams, and faces of Oxford,
Iowa.
--Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps
"A coffee table book that will lead to many discussions. "The
Oxford Project" is also a book toread cover to cover. It is a
record of humanity during the last years of the 20th century.
Everyone will find something of themselves in the people of
Oxford."
--Nancy Quinn, Marketing Director, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"The arresting lenticular photograph on the cover of this book is a
boy, Hunter Tandy in 1984, and as a man in 2005. The diversity of
human experiences is engrossing and the photos are captivating.
This is an American small town's story but also the story of
American lives. Humane, poignant, but also a work of art, "The
Oxford Project" deserves to be in every library and home to remind
us of who our neighbors are."
--Catherine Wallberg. Buyer, Harry W. Scwhartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"To stumble upon a small town like Oxford is one thing - to be able
to consider its whole population face by face, at your own leisure,
is something else entirely."
--from the Preface, by Gerald Stern
"This book was amazing. Amazing. Many things about people are
immutable - often residents would stand the same way for their
portraits 20 years apart without noticing it. So much of who we are
is shaped by how others see us, but clearly at our core we are all
our own person."
--SomewhatBookish.blogspot.com
"The whole endeavor in question is both simple and simply
amazing...taken slowly and allowed to unfold (much like the project
itself), The Oxford Project had much to reveal and does so
beautifully."
--CorridorBuzz.com
"The product is a hard-to-put-down coffee-table book, with big,
striking then-and-now portraits, that pulls you deep into
small-town America, with its almost excessive joys. The danger of
such a project is that it can make caricatures out of real people -
but this book stays true to its life-worn subjects and to the
complexities of what would seem to be the most simple of
places."
--The Atlantic
"People don't get much more real than this, and there's a
heartbreaking, forensic pleasure in paging through the book to
stare at the pictures for minutes at a time, looking at the
thousands of ways in which the years change each of us."
--Hank Steuver, Washington Post
"The Oxford Project is an homage to Americana, a photographic
record of small-town America and the story of intertwined lives. It
is about history, personal and collective, and that ubiquitous
force: change. This book, like the facets of human features, is so
intriguing, it is nearly impossible to put down."
--Lyle Rosdahl, San Antonio Current
"There's something truly remarkable about this book. Art and
historical artifact, "The Oxford Project" provides a glimpse into a
real America - not the one dreamed up, and exploited, by pandering
politicians (at every point on the political spectrum). This is the
real thing, riveting and revelatory.
..."The Oxford Project" is like a still-life documentary, a
narrative about change. This huge, handsome book, with its gatefold
photographs, its maps and memories, offers a fascinating piece of
contemporary history, a treasure of social and cultural
commentary."
--Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Cleverly designed and artfully illustrated. Of significance
tohumanities scholars and socials scientists, as well as general
readers, this work provides a good glimpse of small town
America."
--Library Journal
"This book was amazing. Amazing. Many things about people are
immutable - often residents would stand the same way for their
portraits 20 years apart without noticing it. So much of who we are
is shaped by how others see us, but clearly at our core we are all
our own person."
--SomewhatBookish.blogspot.com
"The whole endeavor in question is both simple and simply
amazing...taken slowly and allowed to unfold (much like the project
itself), The Oxford Project had much to reveal and does so
beautifully."
--Rob Cline, corridorbuzz.com
"What a marvelous way to get at 'who we are' as people. This
powerful, confessional book draws its strength from the truth that
so-called ordinary people, not those with bold-faced names, are
actually the heroes of our American drama."
--Ken Burns
"These photographs and stories are American documentary work at its
finest."
--Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
""The Oxford Project "is an extraordinary undertaking and a
fascinating book. These magnificent photos and oral histories make
for a can't-put-it-down-read, and prove that the stories we find
all around us are the most interesting and important of all. You'll
be awed by the poetry in the words, dreams, and faces of Oxford,
Iowa.
--Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps
"A coffee table book that will lead to many discussions. "The
Oxford Project" is also a book to read cover to cover. It is a
record of humanity during the last years of the 20th century.
Everyone will find something of themselves in the people
ofOxford."
--Nancy Quinn, Marketing Director, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"The arresting lenticular photograph on the cover of this book is a
boy, Hunter Tandy in 1984, and as a man in 2005. The diversity of
human experiences is engrossing and the photos are captivating.
This is an American small town's story but also the story of
American lives. Humane, poignant, but also a work of art, "The
Oxford Project" deserves to be in every library and home to remind
us of who our neighbors are."
--Catherine Wallberg. Buyer, Harry W. Scwhartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"To stumble upon a small town like Oxford is one thing - to be able
to consider its whole population face by face, at your own leisure,
is something else entirely."
--from the Preface, by Gerald Stern
"People don't get much more real than this, and there's a
heartbreaking, forensic pleasure in paging through the book to
stare at the pictures for minutes at a time, looking at the
thousands of ways in which the years change each of us."
--Hank Steuver, Washington Post
"The whole endeavor in question is both simple and simply
amazing...taken slowly and allowed to unfold (much like the project
itself), The Oxford Project had much to reveal and does so
beautifully."
--Rob Cline, corridorbuzz.com
"What a marvelous way to get at 'who we are' as people. This
powerful, confessional book draws its strength from the truth that
so-called ordinary people, not those with bold-faced names, are
actually the heroes of our American drama."
--Ken Burns
"These photographs and stories are American documentary work at its
finest."
--Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
""The Oxford Project "is an extraordinary undertaking and a
fascinating book. These magnificent photos and oral histories make
for a can't-put-it-down-read, and prove that the stories we find
all around us are the most interesting and important of all. You'll
be awed by the poetry in the words, dreams, and faces of Oxford,
Iowa.
--Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps
"A coffee table book that will lead to many discussions. "The
Oxford Project" is also a book to read cover to cover. It is a
record of humanity during the last years of the 20th century.
Everyone will find something of themselves in the people of
Oxford."
--Nancy Quinn, Marketing Director, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"The arresting lenticular photograph on the cover of this book is a
boy, Hunter Tandy in 1984, and as aman in 2005. The diversity of
human experiences is engrossing and the photos are captivating.
This is an American small town's story but also the story of
American lives. Humane, poignant, but also a work of art, "The
Oxford Project" deserves to be in every library and home to remind
us of who our neighbors are."
--Catherine Wallberg. Buyer, Harry W. Scwhartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"To stumble upon a small town like Oxford is one thing - to be able
to consider its whole population face by face, at your own leisure,
is something else entirely."
--from the Preface, by Gerald Stern
"What a marvelous way to get at 'who we are' as people. This
powerful, confessional book draws its strength from the truth that
so-called ordinary people, not those with bold-faced names, are
actually the heroes of our American drama."
--Ken Burns
"These photographs and stories are American documentary work at its
finest."
--Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
""The Oxford Project "is an extraordinary undertaking and a
fascinating book. These magnificent photos and oral histories make
for a can't-put-it-down-read, and prove that the stories we find
all around us are the most interesting and important of all. You'll
be awed by the poetry in the words, dreams, and faces of Oxford,
Iowa.
--Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps
"A coffee table book that will lead to many discussions. "The
Oxford Project" is also a book to read cover to cover. It is a
record of humanity during the last years of the 20th century.
Everyone will find something of themselves in the people of
Oxford."
--Nancy Quinn, Marketing Director, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"The arresting lenticular photograph on the cover of this book is a
boy, Hunter Tandy in 1984, and as a man in 2005. The diversity of
human experiences is engrossing and the photos are captivating.
This is an American small town's story but also the story of
American lives. Humane, poignant, but also a work of art, "The
Oxford Project" deserves to be in every library and home to remind
us of who our neighbors are."
--Catherine Wallberg. Buyer, Harry W. Scwhartz Bookshops,
Milwaukee
"To stumble upon a small town like Oxford is one thing - to be able
to consider its whole population face by face, at yourown leisure,
is something else entirely."
--from the Preface, by Gerald Stern
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