I just picked up a copy of Thomas Hoepker’s book Heartland by Peperoni Books (Second Edition 2013). Came across it on line, saw Magnum was offering autographed copies, and it caught my attention. I was first drawn to the documentary aspect of the book. Thought it would be interesting to compare it to Robert Frank’s work a few years earlier. I was also wanted explore the book because the images were all from 1963, the year I was born. Had an idea about some self exploration by reflecting back to the era I came from compared to where I am at today. Not to be overly deep, more inquisitive.
Overall I like the book and am very happy I have added it to the library.
I like the size, printing, and feel of the book. The crafting of it is appropriate, has a clean look. My biggest knock is some of the image titles are redundant (It is one of the things I pick up on, part of why most my images are untitled). For example: “Woman at a Jukebox in South Dakota”, I can clearly see it is a woman by a Jukebox, I don’t need that information. Love knowing the photograph is from South Dakota, would love to know the city, the bar, or any other facts the image doesn’t tell me. I assume this is the title Hoepker gave the image, and for a reference title its fine, I just don’t see the need to use it in the book. Most folks probably will not notice, its just one of the things I am particular about, I love as much information as I can get and I don’t like redundancy . But back to what is important, this photograph is a great image. The solo man’s hat on the rack above the jukebox, the woman sitting alone, her eyes… there is a ton here in this image. The book layout is also a perfect pairing of the image opposite of the couple dancing in Arizona, takes it to a deeper level still.
Some of the images which really stood out to me are below. I photograph in cemeteries a lot so the photographs from LA were of immediate interest. The vertical image is from Hollywood Forever Cemetery which is an awesome place (you can find images from there in my Cemeteries Series) and the Forrest Lawn statue had been photographed by Winogrand and other greats, Hoepker was obviously chasing old tripod holes. The two images related to Kennedy’s assassination are perfect to document the year since that was by far one of the most important events of our history. The boy dressed up as a soldier resonated with me, I know the country was becoming more involved with the Vietnam War and its pretty obvious many of the toys for boys then were war based supporting that effort. Personally I remember most of my favorite toys were Hot Wheels or toys soldiers and plastic guns. I can relate to the boy in the photo on a lot of levels. The woman by the Campbell’s soup cans is just fantastic because she is in a rural America where more likely than not she is surrounded by farms with fresh and healthy food. The current state of our food supply is beyond frustrating for me and this era is pretty much where the commercialization food all started. I also recognize the parallels to Warhol and the art scene with the Campbell’s cans. This is my favorite photograph in the book. My final example is of the man in Pierre, South Dakota. I had no idea there was a Statue of Liberty replica statue in Pierre and I can’t ever remember a noteworthy photographer who had photographed in Pierre. Pierre was my Grandfather’s hometown and it has long been on my bucket list to visit. Reaffirms that every viewer brings something different with them when they look at an image that effects their response to that image.
Before buying the book I was familiar with Hoepker’s work but did not know it as well I should. Knew he is a Magnum photographer (joined in 1989 and was President of Magnum from 2003-2006) and knew his photographs of Muhammad Ali. So I did some research for this post. One of my favorite Hoepker photographs is of several couples at a make out spot across the river from the World Trade Center in the 1980’s. I have seen the image before and just think its a great document which captures the era and place so well. I found a feature on Hoepker’s color work in New York during the 1980’s on the site Viewing NYC which has the image featured. I also found a Hoepker article on KLAT which I thought was a good read. Hoepker’s main web site is on Magnum. If you decide to explore Hoepker’s work more I also also suggest viewing his photographs documenting Germany during the cold war.