Cultural Portrait Photographer finds melting pot of traditions at the Bangor debut of the National Folk Festival

Before joining the photo staff at the Bangor Daily News, I spent four years living and working on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. During that time, I was immersed in the rich culture and values of the Oglala Lakota people. That experience forced me to examine my own culture. I was at a loss.

In a country dominated by mass media, fast food and strip malls, I struggled to understand traditional American culture and my connection to it. What are my songs? What are my dances? What are my rituals?

The National Folk Festival held in Bangor last weekend showed me that as an American, my songs are the songs of the Bluegrass Tradition Band and La Bottine Souriante. My dances are the dances of the Polish polka and the N.B.S. dancers. My rituals are the rituals of the Papantla Flyers and the hula kahiko.

I realized that I was searching for a clear and simple definition of American culture. What I found was far from simple, but much more beautiful because of that. At the folk festival, I found the heart of American culture to be a vibrant tapestry of many distinct traditions from many regions of the world. As a result, there was no clear way to define this eclectic blend.

In an effort to capture and share the traditions of the festival, I chose to return to the tradition of my art and use a basic plastic camera called a Holga. This $20 camera has only one setting, no electronics, no motor drive, no real focus control and plenty of light leaks.

The resulting images, like American culture itself, are not always clear. Sometimes the boundaries of one image blend into the next. But in a special way, each individual image is made stronger in the process.