MARCH 19, 2009 ISSUE
Ebel’s The Picture Man Now Available
A photographer stops by a mountain farm and offers to take a photograph—much to the delight of a playful girl and her curious brother. But where will she choose to be photographed?
In the first half of the 20th century, photographers known as “picture men” traveled the back roads of Appalachia—as in other parts of the country—by foot, on horseback and by car. They often captured images within their own communities as they supplemented their incomes by photographing local families. Their images, which have graced mantels and family albums for generations, offer records of people as they lived and as they wished to be seen.
These picture men come to life in the book, The Picture Man, itself a snapshot of Helen, the Appalachian farm girl, her brother Junior and Nell, the farm horse as they prepare to be photographed. Julia Taylor Ebel’s words tell the story along with Idalia Canter’s delicate watercolors, reminiscent of sepia photos with hand tinting. The story culminates with the actual 1940s photograph that inspired this story. The farm girl in the photograph is Helen Hardin, who lived on Hardin Road, near Boone, where the farmhouse still stands. Endnotes highlight the importance of photography and picture men in keeping true accounts of our heritage.
The Picture Man is available at bookstores and online and can be ordered from Publisher John F. Blair by clicking to www.blairpub.com or calling 1-800-222-9796. The book costs $16.95.
Joyce Moyer Hostetter, author of Blue and Comfort, says, “The Picture Man is a striking historical snapshot. Ebel’s lyrical storytelling and Canter’s gentle illustrations beautifully capture a moment in time. And the surprise ending is priceless.”
In her review of the book, The Picture Man, Schuyler Kaufman writes, “Helen, Junior and Nell find it easy to keep still [for the photograph]. You, however, will find it hard to keep the smile off your face.”
The Picture Man invites young readers into this bygone era, while endnotes and an album of photographs by W. R. Trivett, a Appalachian picture man in rural Avery and Watauga Counties, will spark the curiosity of adults and leave them reaching for their own family photographs.
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