I don't know if this is where I first learned of his project, but I read about it last week and again today over at the DoubleTapper.
Photographer Kyle Cassidy has developed a very interesting book. Here is his short introduction:
I started wondering just who they were, what they looked like, and how they lived. Such was the genesis of Armed America: Portraits of American Gun Owners in Their Homes. The idea was to photograph a hundred gun owners, in their homes, and do a gallery show. I figured this would take about two years. But very soon after I started, it became evident that my ambitions were too low. My mailbox flooded with letters from people I didn't know wanting to participate -- I realized that I could probably photograph a hundred people in two months, but it wasn't a number of people that was important, it was their stories -- a cowboy in Texas, a survivalist in Montana, a deer hunter in Pennsylvania, a sheriff in Georgia, a soldier in Idaho.... What I really needed, I realized, was to get moving, to drive across the country and find America somewhere between here and there.
What started as an idea for a gallery show, turned into a book- Armed America: Portraits of American Gun Owners in Their Homes.
To learn more about the project check out Cassidy's website: Armed America.
What a cool perspective.
Why do I own a gun?
Well, actually, I don't. I own several guns and am proud of that. I own guns for several reasons. 1) I have the right to own them, and it is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights; 2) I like to hunt-birds, deer, predator, small game, anything and one of the ways to hunt is with a gun; 3) I like to shoot-target shooting is a process that uses so many skills and concentration and it is a stress relief I survived college by trap shooting every week; 4) I want to protect myself and my family-even in a rural area there is crime, break-ins, etc and I refuse to be a victim; 5) with black powder firearms it is a very intimate process to load and fire, and requires great marksmanship; 6) I like explosions, and a gun firing is a controlled explosion in your hands, with a direct projectile that wields lethal force; 7) It is an amazing and awesome feeling to hold that kind of power in your hands.
So, dear readers, why do you own a gun?
Leave a response in the comments.
What started as an idea for a gallery show, turned into a book- Armed America: Portraits of American Gun Owners in Their Homes.
To learn more about the project check out Cassidy's website: Armed America.
What a cool perspective.
Why do I own a gun?
Well, actually, I don't. I own several guns and am proud of that. I own guns for several reasons. 1) I have the right to own them, and it is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights; 2) I like to hunt-birds, deer, predator, small game, anything and one of the ways to hunt is with a gun; 3) I like to shoot-target shooting is a process that uses so many skills and concentration and it is a stress relief I survived college by trap shooting every week; 4) I want to protect myself and my family-even in a rural area there is crime, break-ins, etc and I refuse to be a victim; 5) with black powder firearms it is a very intimate process to load and fire, and requires great marksmanship; 6) I like explosions, and a gun firing is a controlled explosion in your hands, with a direct projectile that wields lethal force; 7) It is an amazing and awesome feeling to hold that kind of power in your hands.
So, dear readers, why do you own a gun?
Leave a response in the comments.
+-+Copy.JPG)
3 comments:
We don't own a gun as of yet, but are in the market for one.
It's funny, but before I joined the military or even had an inkling to do so I was adamantly against us having one in the house. It wasn't until I became educated in firearms, and intimately so! -- we were instructed to sleep with our rifles in our sleeping bags, curled up around them as if they were lovers because if our DI's got the opportunity to take them from us, they would, and then we would be sorry! -- that I lost my ignorant fear of them. And it really was just ignorance that caused my dislike for them.
To my surprise, I actually enjoyed marksmanship. I found a kind of zen peace in the midst of chaos; a way to shut out the fear, pain, anxiety in my head, body, and my heart, and zero in on nothing but my front sight. To be aware of nothing but the target and my breathing.
Anyhoo, I miss it and I'm looking to get back in to it. I believe in education over ignorance and if we're to have a rifle in the house then my children will be drilled in safety until they're reciting the rules in their sleep. Keeping something like that away from them, locked up and un-talked about, only breeds mystery and intrigue (I have the same beliefs when it comes to sex and alcohol too, btw). And that leads to accidents. Nope, the kids are getting classes in handling, cleaning, and gun safety and I'm getting into competitive marksmanship. =)
Barmy,
I think your experience is similar to many people when they go shooting. It doesn't have to be in the military, but just a trip to the range can open someone's eyes. I love the way you put it, "Zen peace."
And you hit the nail on the head, let the kids see the firearms, touch them, take them shooting. Even at a young age, use a .22 or .17. Satisfy their curiosity. Contagion has a very good post from 2006 about gun safety education with his boys at http://miasmaticreview.mu.nu/archives/187099.php
Thanks for the recommendation! :) *goes to read*
Post a Comment