The Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project 2015–2024

Forty years after the original Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project (KDPP), Ted Wathen and Bob Hower reincorporated it with the goal of photographing again in each of Kentucky’s 120 counties. In 2015, Hower and Wathen took several initial trips around the state testing the idea and feasibility of documenting Kentucky anew. Those initial journeys lead them to conclude YES. The concept became to photograph Kentucky with a group of younger and more diverse photographers encouraging them to see the state with new eyes. Working on the new KDPP along with Hower and Wathen were: 

With this vision realized, the photographers listed above will have contributed to making a photographic record of the state stretching from 1935 to 2024, and hopefully continuing on to 2055. This is visual history: how we lived, worked, played, worshiped and inhabited the land we know and love.

There is much left to be done. Will you help?

The images below give a sense of the work that has been done on the contemporary KDPP. There is still much to be done: create a book, tour the exhibit and archive the work of 26 photographers. Will you help us by contributing?

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