Hutterite photography project provides candid glimpse to colony life

January 28, 2008 · Filed Under Hutterites, Videos · 2 Comments 

Hutterite photography project provides candid glimpse to colony life


By DIANE COCHRAN
Of The Gazette Staff

LEWISTOWN – An art project that put disposable cameras into the hands of four dozen Hutterite children has provided a rare glimpse into one of the state’s most recognizable but least understood cultures.

“A Week in the Life of a Hutterite Child” depicts ordinary moments on six central Montana Hutterite colonies through 36 photographs taken by children who live on the colonies.

The color and black-and-white photos, taken last fall, are part of a traveling show that will be displayed at the Yellowstone Art Museum later this year.

“Giving them the ability to show their unique lifestyle to people who have had no exposure to Hutterite colonies seemed like a natural thing to do,” said Cheryl Bannes, an artist who organized the project. “I hope people who see the show will be a little less afraid to ask questions.”

About 4,000 Hutterites live in about 40 mostly self-sufficient communities across Montana.

They are religious pacifists who share the work and the wealth in their communities, but they are known to their neighbors, whom they call “the English,” as agricultural producers who wear homemade clothes and speak with German accents.

“In a way, it’s almost like stepping back in time a little bit when you come to the colony,” said Karen Matovich, a teacher’s aide at Ayers Colony School near Grass Range.

Bannes distributed 50 disposable cameras to six colonies – Ayers, Fords Creek, Spring Creek, Deerfield, Loring and King – in August and September.

She said only one colony resisted the idea, but its leaders eventually changed their minds.

“Most colonies said they didn’t want children mugging for the camera,” she said.

Instead, kids were instructed to capture scenes from everyday life. Each community selected a week during which pictures were taken.

At Ayers Colony, 15-year-old Ramona Stahl snapped photos of women in the kitchen and of other kids riding horses across a field.

“I took that picture because I think city people should do that – ride horses to go out in the field,” she said.

Other images show colony members harvesting potatoes, picking berries, skinning animals and sewing.

In one shot, a girl in a traditional ankle-length skirt and head scarf swings a baseball bat.

In another, two small girls peer into the lens from behind a piglet one of them is holding aloft.

There is also a boy hugging a dog, a pair of worn cowboy boots, a past-its-prime jack-o-lantern and a group of women making pies.

“You could see how they progressed from ‘Isn’t this fun to take a picture?’ to really composing a picture and telling a story,” said Bannes, who is a metalsmith and photographer.

Bannes and a committee of Hutterite parents narrowed 1,200 pictures down to the three dozen that were framed for the show.

“I was amazed,” said Susan Seastrand, the teacher at Ayers Colony School. “They took some really good pictures.”

Seastrand said her students, who live on Ayers and Fords Creek colonies, have told her they do not feel discrimination when they interact with non-Hutterites.

But they and their parents would like “the English” to have a better understanding of colony traditions.

“We don’t have the same life as they do,” said Rachelle Stahl, 14.

Contact Diane Cochran at dcochran[@]billingsgazette.com or 657-1287.

Original Article from BillingsGazette.com

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A week in the life of a Hutterite child

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