Les mennonites, originaires de la Hollande du XVIe siècle, sont des non-conformistes et se sont traditionnellement séparés du monde en vivant dans des colonies, ou colonies, séparées de la société dans son ensemble. Ce projet se concentre sur la secte de la Vieille Colonie, la secte la plus conservatrice et insulaire, engagée dans une bataille continue avec le modernisme qui cherche à les changer et à les absorber. Plutôt que de compromettre leur mode de vie, les mennonites ont continuellement été forcés de migrer partout dans le monde pour maintenir leur liberté de vivre comme ils l’entendent.
Larry Towell a d’abord rencontré les mennonites près de chez lui en Ontario, au Canada, et l’amitié avec eux lui lui a permis d’avoir un accès unique à leurs communautés.
Le résultat de cette amitié fut un portrait unique et tendre d’une communauté souvent incomprise et périphérique. Les textes de Towell relatent — sur de nombreux milles et de nombreuses saisons — les détails des expériences de ceux qu’il a rencontrés, les dures pressions exercées à la fois par la nature, l’économie et la société, et la lutte pour tenir à distance l’élan du changement. Même lorsqu’elles ont été publiées pour la première fois en 2000, les images semblaient étrangères au monde contemporain, et cette nouvelle édition, avec des images inédites, reste aussi poignante.
‘When a Mennonite loses his land, a bit of his human dignity is forfeited; so is his financial solvency. He becomes a migrant worker, an exile who will spend the rest of his life drifting among fruit trees and vegetable vines, dreaming of owning his own farm some day.’
‘In 1989, I discovered them in my own back yard, landhungry and dirt poor. They came looking for work in the vegetable fields and fruit orchards of Lambton, Essex, Kent and Haldimand-Norfolk Counties. I liked them a lot because they seemed otherworldly and therefore completely vulnerable in a society in which they did not belong and for which they were not prepared. Because I liked them, they liked me, and although photography was forbidden, they let me photograph them. That’s all there was to it.’
The Mennonites, originating in 16th century Holland, are non-conformists and have traditionally separated themselves from the world by living in settlements, or colonies, set apart from society at large. This project focuses on the Old Colony sect, the most conservative and insular sect, engaged in an ongoing battle with modernism which seeks to change and absorb them. Rather than compromise their way of life, Mennonites have continually been forced to migrate around the world to maintain their freedom to live as they choose.
Larry Towell first encountered the Mennonites near his home in Ontario, Canada and friendship with them gained him unique access to their communities.
The result of this friendship was a unique and tender portrait of an often misunderstood and peripheral community. Towell’s texts chronicle—over many miles and seasons—the details of the experiences of those he encountered, the harsh pressures wrought by both nature, the economy and society, and the battle to keep the drive of change at bay. Even when first published in 2000, the images appeared estranged from the contemporary world, and this new edition, with previously unseen images, remains as poignant.
