Book Review: Between Gravity and What Cheer, Iowa Photographs.

I have long been a fan of traveling around and photographing small towns, and I recently received a new book to review from the University of Iowa Press - Between Gravity and What Cheer. Iowa Photographs by Barry Phipps.  If the title sounds a bit odd, it's because those are the names of small towns in Iowa.   The author relocated to Iowa City from Chicago in 2012, and it's safe to say that the places are quite different.  However, the author began taking day trips across his new state, and in the process, documented the places he visited, in all of the 99 counties of Iowa.  This isn't a travelogue, nor is it an attempt to put the best face on the places he visited.  Barry Phipps' keen eye and choice of using color photographs (for the most part) has resulted in a beautiful and delightful collection of photographs that bring some aspect of each place into our view.  At times, I see echoes of Walker Evans, William Christenberry, Stephen Shore, and William Eggleston. This of course, is unavoidable, and is a compliment to the photographer. Barry Phipps doesn't present the often declining towns in a condescending way, but finds the beauty, the humor, or the strength of the places he visited. Along the way, he also photographed some of the people he met, and the portraits definitely add another dimension to the the richness of the images.  The compositions are excellent and colors are vibrant.  My only quibble is the use of monochrome images on pages 72 and 99 in an otherwise all-color presentation. 

In preparing a book such as this, one obviously has to make the decision "what photo do I use?" If one were simply photographing post offices, town halls, or such, it would be easier.  However, to pick an image (and to make an image!) to represent some facet of a town or county without it becoming repetitive or cliché takes a good eye, serendipity, and the ability to see beyond the obvious.  Small towns in the mid-west are generally not what they were 100 or even 50 years ago.  As large factory farms have replaced the family farm, passenger trains eliminated, local business decimated, and small manufacturing companies lost, many small towns have had a hard time.  It would be unfair to always show the worst, when every place has some interesting aspect, and I think the photographer has done an excellent job in balancing such aspects in his travels.  A photograph may well make you ask questions or make you want to visit.  As a photographer of small-town post offices, I really enjoyed the image of the Gravity post office.  Anyone that has visited a lot of small towns will find resonance with this book, and perhaps it will inspire you to explore your own state or county, and to find something that makes each place memorable.

The author states "The rivers and lines that form the boundary of this state are arbitrary. Nothing changes much in terms of culture or scenery as these lines are crossed, at least not at first. I try to find what is unique to each place. Iowa has all of the things that are in these photographs and not in these photographs, in these moments, these conditions."  I think that is a great statement, and Barry Phipps has provided us with colorful and engaging vignettes of Iowa. Definitely a recommended photography book, and it's all the more appreciated that he shot it on film.

The book Between Gravity and What Cheer. Iowa Photographs is 112 pages, 9x9 inches, and is in soft cover at $29.95.  ISBN 978-1-60938-579-8. Published May 1, 2018 by the University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, IA.