Amish Odyssey by Bill Coleman

Bill Coleman began his odyssey among the Amish around 1978. Somewhere in Pennsylvania (its location will be kept secret), he happened upon a remote valley peopled by Old Order Amish. Unlike other more assimilated Amish (offspring of the strict religious group formed in sixteenth century Switzerland that emigrated to America in the eighteenth century), followers of the "Old Order" discourage intrusions from not only tourists but, indeed, any stranger.

Although greeted with suspicion when he began to appear regularly in the valley, Coleman gradually became accepted by its residents and as he came to know and cherish many of the valley's inhabitants, his self-assigned weeklong project turned into an ongoing and very special relationship with the community. "I think my own sense of who and what the Amish are is a visceral, emotional thing," the photographer observes. "I have not become a scholar of the Amish or read an excessive number of books on the subject. I would rather find out about them by small, little surprises, little cameos here and there that constantly happen."

Through the accretion of such "little surprises," we are slowly, gently drawn into this never before revealed world—a place little touched by time and unknown to most. And through his telling observations that accompany the images, we come to glimpse the inner conflicts that have characterised Bill Coleman's private obsession of the past decade: although acutely aware of this community's desire for privacy, he considers it his responsibility to document their way of life before it completely disappears and becomes another victim of the twentieth century's omnivorous technology - an event that he considers all but inevitable.

Amish Odyssey brings together the best of Bill Coleman's photographs of the day-to-day life of this extraordinary group of people.

First edition, Published 1988 by Alfred Van Der Marck Editions

Excellent Condition.