Doug Wallin sowing his tobacco seedbed, Craine Branch

Artist Rob Amberg American, born 1947

Date1978, printed 2002

MediumGelatin-silver print

Dimensionsheight and width (paper): 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
image: 8 1/4 × 12 1/2 in. (21 × 31.8 cm)
frame: 16 3/8 × 20 3/8 × 1 1/2 in. (41.6 × 51.8 × 3.8 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineGift of the artist

Object number2004.8.11

On View

Not on view

Label TextRob Amberg has spent more than twenty years documenting the rural life of western North Carolina. His work captures the social, cultural, and economic changes to a community and the direct impact of those changes on the lives of the people who live there.

This is one of six works in the NCMA collection from his project, Sodom Laurel Album, which provides an intimate view of an isolated mountain community.

Describing the relationships he developed with his photographic subjects, Amberg has written, “My relationship with Dellie and Junior gave all of us the opportunity to see through each other’s eyes, beyond the surface, removed from the constraints of culture. It’s a gift of perception. But, with ever-increasing contact between diverse populations, seeing beyond stereotypes and understanding ourselves through our relationships with others become important life skills. And perhaps our only sources of salvation.”
[L. Dougherty, 2007]

ProvenanceCreated Madison County, NC, 1978, printed 2002; collection of the artist; given to NCMA, 2004.
Published ReferencesRob Amberg, Sodom Laurel Album (exhibition catalogue) (Chapel Hill: published by the University of North Carolina Press in association with the Center for Documentary Studies, 2002), listed 152, illus. 24.

Michele Natale, "Portrait of 10 artists of the lens," Raleigh: The News and Observer (September 10, 2006), mentioned 3G.
Exhibition HistoryAsheville, NC, Asheville Art Museum, "Sodom Laurel Album," October 2002-January 2003; Durham, NC, Center for Documentary Studies, May 2003-July 2003; Richmond, VA, Art 6, May 2004-July 2004, listed 152, illus. 24.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Contemporary NC Photography from the Museum's Collection," (part 1) September 3-November 5, 2006.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Human/Nature,” October 15, 2016–February 26, 2017. Object Rights Statement

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