Hands In Harmony [Hardcover]

I had not seen Mr. Barnwell's other two books before I bought Hands in Harmony so I didn't know what to expect, I just have an interest in traditional music, so what a surprise when I saw the quality of the images and the depth of content in the book. It is filled with very warm, intimate portraits, and some of the most powerful I have seen. Even the well known people like Ralph Stanley look natural yet engaged. The people seem to literally "grow" out of their surroundings-private spaces in their homes, basement workshops, craft studios. In addition to the photographs, there is a large text section with backgrounds on each person and interviews with them. I found this very interesting as it added another dimension to the book and let me understand more about who each person was. The included CD (22 tunes) is incredible; unusual old tunes, that must have been handed down for hundreds of years,along with some modern takes on them. More than just fiddle and banjo, there are shape note Christian Harmony tunes, autoharp by the great, late, Mike Seeger, and unaccompanied ballads that are truly haunting. I think this book would appeal to people with a variety of interest-music, crafts, history, photography,or anyone just interested in "meeting" very interesting folks. I showed this book to my dad and mom over Christmas and almost didn't get it back-my dad loved the photos of all the old musicians and instruments and my mom really loved the photos of the women, especially the ones doing crafts. I highly recommend this book, as well as his books, The Face of Appalachia and On Earth's Furrowed Brow, which I ordered after reading Hands in Harmony. The black and white reproductions are amazing and the photos of farmers and their families and livestock, which they work in the fields, is like a window to the past. The few other photographers I've seen depict Appalachia either seem to show "Deliverance" stereotypes-scary unnatural scenes, or the opposite- highly sentimental clichés. Mr. Barnwell's books provide a straightforward, honest approach, and are all the more powerful for it.