June 19 - October 10, 2004
QUIET
PRIDE: Ageless Wisdom of the American West
Photography by Robert Alan Clayton
Robert Alan Clayton spent more than three years documenting the lives of older Americans in the West. He traveled more than 30,000 miles over back roads and byways, from South Dakota to California, photographing the faces and writing down the stories of more than 40 people. Clayton wrote: "I have admired the beauty and character of the American West and the rugged individualism of older Americans. They are products of a world full of experiences that come to us now as stories with the power to make our eyes grow wide with wonder as we glimpse a bygone era we can never know again."
Clayton chose subjects ranging in age from 57 to 114, many of them having lived through the Depression and World War II. By their own account, these individuals have led common lives. The extraordinary lies in the very simplicity of their undaunted will to live free, in the purposefulness of their dreams, and in the risks they took which to them never seemed risky at all. The images are a glimpse of rural, western Americana and a way of honoring age, its beauty, and the living of one's dreams.
Robert Alan Clayton was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and is a past student of The Dayton Art Institute. In QUIET PRIDE: Ageless Wisdom of the American West, each black and white portrait is accompanied by a short narrative that is a kernel of the individual's life, values, and worldview. This exhibition consists of 37 black and white photographs and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue. On view in the North Gallery.
Admission: FREE