Robert Weingarten: Another America · A Testimonial to the Amish: Another America, A Testimonial to the Amish Book

For four years, Robert Weingarten photographed Amish communities in Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. In 80 photographs, Another America captures the beauty and simplicity of a way of religious life that has been sustained for more than three centuries. Descendants of the followers of Jakob Ammann, a Swiss Mennonite bishop of the 17th century, the Amish came to America in the early 18th century in search of religious freedom. The Amish have their roots in the Mennonite community. Both were part of the early Anabaptist movement in Europe, which took place at the time of the Reformation. The Anabaptists believed that only adults who had confessed their faith should be baptized, and that they should remain separate from the larger society. They uphold basic Bible doctrines, believe strictly in following Christ?s example of nonviolence, and stress humility, family, and community. Many early Anabaptists were put to death as heretics by both Catholics and Protestants, and others fled to the mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany. Here began the Amish tradition of farming and holding worship services in homes rather than churches. Robert Weingarten?s photographs of Amish communities are riveting testaments to the enduring virtues of this religious group?s spiritual and bucolic lifestyle. His black-and-white images of the pastoral landscape are in perfect accord with the Amish?s profoundly simple faith. In the broad spectrum of photographic grays that exists between the darkest black and the brightest white, this California photographer has eloquently evoked the rich and subtle harmonies of a people who shy away from everything modern and wordly while cherishing the traditional, the spiritual, and the teachings of the Bible. --Robert A. Sobieszek Edited by Garrett White.Essay by Robert A. Sobieszek. Clothbound, 9.5 x 11.75 in. / 240 pgs / 80 duotones.Read More