As we enter a new century, we do not often have an opportunity to witness the fragile thread that connects our lives to the lives of those who came before us. In High Plains Farm, Paula Chamlee has provided that thread. In 1994 she returned home to photograph and write about the farm where she grew up on the High Plains of the Texas Panhandle, a farm where her parents, who were then in their mid and late eighties, still farmed their 1,100 acre wheat farm all by themselves.

In High Plains Farm, Paula Chamlee directs her eye, heart, and soul toward her home place, and that love shines through with each photograph's beauty, grace, and composition. These are classical images of the commonplace.

But Paula Chamlee's vision extends far beyond the High Plains of a small farm in Texas ; there is an implied appreciation for the landscapes of rural America and the ideals they represent.

These photographs are full of information about who we are as a people and who we are as a nation. They remind us that, although the population of the United States has more than doubled since 1909 when Paula Chamlee's paternal grandparents left Iowa for Texas, and although the United States has become decidedly urban and suburban in its economy and cultural sensibilities, and although television has replaced conversation and outdoor recreation for many Americans, the soil and the rural life that depends on its care still make this nation possible.

In the end, we are able to trust Paula Chamlee's photographs because she trusts us. She has invited us to visit her home place, to know what it was like to have been raised there, and to know that we must respect the land even as we change it. With this exhibition and the accompanying book, Paula Chamlee has given us a great gift that can be shared with future generations. She conveys to us, through the magic and integrity of photography, that truth can be found in beauty, and that beauty and knowledge can be found in common places.

George F. Thompson, President
Center for American Places
Harrisonburg , Virginia
November, 1996

Film: A 30-minute PBS documentary film about Chamlee and her work on this photographic project travels with the exhibition.

Number of photographs: 81 black and white photographs
Frame sizes: 76 at 16x18 inches, 5 at 13x15 inches
Linear feet: 200-250
Rental fee: $4000 for 8 weeks

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE:

Feb-March 2007
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, TX