Renée Deemer

Photographer

reneedeemer.com

Kentucky Roots

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Location: Syracuse, NY

Nationality: North American

Biography: Renée Deemer is a photojournalist and portrait photographer currently pursuing a master's degree in the Multimedia, Photography and Design program at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

HOG KILL

December is hog killing time in Allen County, Ky. A group of around twenty people gather for the days-long process of hog selection, slaughter, butchering and packaging.

HOMEPLACE AND FAMILY

George Shipley Jr. comes home for the last days of his life. A winding dirt path connects three houses and five generations of family all living on Mr. Shipley’s land in Metcalfe County, Ky.

LOST CAUSE

It's said that American Southerners are the only people to celebrate a war they lost. Hundreds of Civil War re-enactors converge in McLean County, Ky., to re-enact the Battle of Sacramento, won by the Confederate Colonel Nathan Forrest.

AGRARIANISM

Land is a huge factor in shaping Kentucky culture both as terrain and as the basis for an agrarian way of life. The pro-agriculture stance is in defense of traditional culture threatened by modern urban-industrial society.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

The ideal and appearance of the landed gentry is celebrated by all at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, Ky.

CASH CROP

Marijuana is the foremost cash crop in Kentucky. despite it being illegal. Second only to California in production volume, Kentucky is one of five states that supplies the nation with 90% of it’s marijuana.

REBEL FLAG

Five years and 3 self-built engines later, Jim McCrady is proud of his 1941 Ford Sedan 2-door hot rod and its decorations. “The flag represents a freedom of choice in culture, living off the land, the freedom on what you wear, drive and live in,” said McCrady.

REVIVAL AND REDEMPTION

Rev. Donald Valentine delivers his sermon from the pulpit as well as up and down the aisles of Oakland Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Oakland, Ky. His impassioned oratory incites in his congregation fervent call-and-response and repentance.

POWER AND PROTECTION

Chris Wolfe, of Bowling Green, Ky., shoots his Mossberg 500A shotgun, inherited from his father’s father, at a friends house in Smith’s Grove, Ky. “In small, rural area guns aren’t considered weapons as much as tools.”

WATERWAYS

Kentucky’s expansive waterway system has historically played a major role in its cultural breadth. Kentucky has more navigable miles of water than any other state in the union, except for Alaska.

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Kentucky Roots

Copyright Renée Deemer 2024

Updated Jan 2019

Topics Documentary, Editorial, Essays, Photography, Photojournalism

Kentucky Roots

Kentucky Roots is an evolving visual exploration of contemporary community life in Kentucky as shaped by its mythology and heritage. My focus is on South Central and Western Kentucky, regions often overlooked in artistic, scholarly and journalistic treatments of the Commonwealth.

Renée Deemer

Nov 3, 2018

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