In the German Hill Country of Texas memory is lived. By quirk of fate, this lovely region has become a repository for the yearnings of modern society to reinvent its past--a magnet for writers, artists, and people in search of a frontier heritage. The rugged landscape, rock farmhouses, hand-built stone fences, and carefully constructed towns have become part of an American dream. In eighty-eight contemporary photographs, Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin contrast today's Hill Country with historical prints of the life known by the early settlers. In 1848 it was land no one wanted--arid, rocky territory crisscrossed by Comanches and far from any market. Sold by speculators to unsuspecting German noblemen, the land became the setting for a distinctive way of life where language, physical struggle, political distinctiveness, and character created a tradition that is now attracting new kinds of settlers. The old remains but is being transformed. In the early 1970s, when the first of these photographs were made, descendants of pioneer families still reflected the values and life-style of previous generations. This story is not just a celebration of continuity, the land, or human heroism, however. It is also about the ironies and the dissonances of history. To uncover this story, photojournalists Watriss and Baldwin began visiting the Hill Country in 1972 and lived there from 1978 to 1980. Their work portrays the impact of modern culture and the redefining of heritage and history in a corner of American life. The essay written by historian Lawrence Goodwyn, provides a provocative context for further interpretation.

Coming to Terms: The German Hill Country of Texas (Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Texas Photography Series)

Arts & Photography

Goodwyn, Lawrence

Baldwin, Fred

Watriss, Wendy

Photography & Video

Texas A&M University Press

Traditionally, the Chinese burn joss paper (ghost money) for their ancestors so that they can enjoy their afterlives. Houses, cars, and gold bars made out of paper were burnt in the weeks following a person's death. However, in recent times, as consumer culture takes hold of the Chinese culture, joss paper products have become more elaborate, reflecting the desires of those who are alive. In an increasingly westernized society, designer handbags, laptop computers, iPods, and fast food made out of paper are burnt for the recently deceased. Kurt Tong has exhibited at international venues including FotoFest in Houston, Texas.

In Case It Rains in Heaven

Kehrer Verlag

View From Inside is an expansive presentation of contemporary Arab photography, video, and mixed media art from the Middle East and North Africa. The book shows the works of 49 leading Arab artists from 13 different countries. The works reflect the emergence of photographic, video and digital art as important forms of creative visual expression in the Arab world since the 1990s. The artworks address a broad range of issues that the artists themselves have defined as important to the modern Arab experience. Four texts cover the early appearance of photography in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-nineteenth century through photography's evolution as an integral part of the contemporary Arab art world: The author of the lead essay on contemporary photographic art is the pioneering curator and expert on classical Islamic art and contemporary Arab art, Karin Adrian von Roques. Ms. von Roques has worked in the Middle East for more than twenty years, bringing important contemporary Arab art to museum audiences in Europe, Asia and the United States. Essays on the history of Arab photographic expression have been written by Samer Mohdad, a well-known Lebanese photographer, writer and co-founder of the Fondation Arabe pour l'Image in Beirut. Dr. Claude W. Sui, Senior Curator of the Forum International of Photography at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum in Mannheim, Germany and curator of exhibitions on nineteenth century photography in Arabia including To the Holy Lands: Mecca and Medina to Jerusalem. Mona Khazindar, Director General of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris looks at the development on the history of modern Arab photography and its relationship to contemporary art. Wendy Watriss, Senior Curator and Artistic Director for FotoFest International provides the philosophical overview of the book in her introduction.

View from the Inside: Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art

Mohdad, Samer

von Roques, Karin Adrian

Sui, Claude W., Dr.

Khazindar, Mona

History & Criticism

Schilt Pub

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Watriss, Wendy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Watriss, Wendy