The Mennonites Book

In a world where the media has been at least as guilty as any in presenting the bland Technicolor conformity of Americana as ubiquitous idyll, Larry Towell's The Mennonites stands as a gentle reproach. The Mennonites are a Protestant religious sect originating in Europe in the 16th century who take their name from Menno Simons, a Catholic priest impressed by the Anabaptist martyrs of Reformation Holland. They are probably most easily understood through their relation to the Amish. Continually fighting to preserve the freedom to live as required by their religious tenets they have historically been forced to continuously migrate. Now an inward-looking community based mainly in Canada and Mexico, Larry Towell's black-and-white photographic study of the sect shows how a harsh rural poverty and a deep abiding faith collide. Rarely has such harsh documentary photography been so painterly, rarely has a photographer written as fascinatingly as does Towell in his brief, accompanying texts. This is a poignant, human, illuminating collection of photographs that shows how the struggle to keep away from the world both binds and divides. Towell's photography shows us that what seems so particular, so different, is in fact quite universal. A beautiful book. --Mark ThwaiteRead More