Last month an exhibition of Timothy Briner's Boonville series opened at Daniel Cooney Fine Art to acclaim. I was among those who became deeply engrossed in the nineteen photographs hung on the walls that night, and by the larger group collected in a limited edition book also on display. This collection reveals the soul of small-town America - in particular, the view by a young man of his own generation's experience. Following is the email interview I conducted in January with Briner about his work and process.

Three images from the series Boonville. Copyright and courtesy Timothy Briner.

Peggy Roalf: How did you come to formulate the idea for Boonville?

Timothy Briner: I grew up in "The Boonies," as people liked to say. So when I first discovered Boonville, New York with a friend in 2003, I was not only struck by the beauty and mystery of the town, but by its name. The mood of the town evoked such a strong feeling in me, and the name represented something so familiar, that I was immediately interested in exploring it further. I fully committed to doing the project when I discovered there were 5 other towns named Boonville spread across the U.S. The project got pushed to the back burner for many years, but It was something I always talked about and strived to return to.

PR: What was the focus of your work prior to Boonville?

TB: For a year or so before I began traveling I was raising awareness and money for the project. During that time I would take frequent trips to Broad Channel, a small fishing village in Queens, and Turners Falls, Massachusetts, an old mill town. I used the time spent at these two places to formulate my thinking about Boonville.

PR: How long did you spend on the project? Was it a continuous sweep of time or done in segments?

TB: I worked straight for 11 months during 2007 and 2008, traveling across the country while staying with families and individuals I met along the way.

PR: Did you experience the kind of melancholy that's evident in many of your photographs in the Boonville series when you were growing up in Indiana?

TB: Absolutely. My memories and experiences definitely informed the way I viewed and approached these places. I would go so far as to say that this project was created so I could examine and confront the fear and isolation I felt during my youth.

PR: What is there about small-town life that you find so engrossing, if that's the right word?

TB: Small-town life is not something that I find particularly engrossing. During my youth it was actually something I found to be boring, and often times I felt trapped and was discouraged by the limited opportunities available.

PR: The night shots are highly evocative. What, if any, were your influences for these nighttime scenes?

TB: The night shots are one of the most important aspects of this project for me. They set the mood for the rest of the work. During high school there was a year or so where I would sneak out of the house a few nights a week with a friend. We would go around peeking into houses, or mess around at construction sites. Sounds creepy, and it was, but it was mostly harmless. To me, those memories represent exploration and fear. I was attempting to recall some of those feeling with the night work.

Three images from the series Boonville. Copyright and courtesy Timothy Briner.

PR: Did the young people you worked with get what you were doing right away? How did you explain what you were doing to people who might not be much aware of the documentary photography genre?

TB: It's interesting. The majority of the people I came across on my travels were very open. I would say that 90% of the people I met were supportive of my ideas. The younger people I connected with and photographed actually took a bit more convincing than the people in their 40s and on. The kids in their teens and early 20s were consistently more guarded and wary of me. I'm not quite sure why this is, but I suppose it may have to do with their coming of age during a tenuous time in American history. People are often taught to be more cautious of the camera, knowing that it can be manipulated and spread across multiple digital platforms in seconds.
PR: How did you find people to work with once your arrived in town?

TB: I would have tour guides in some of the towns I stayed in. These people would often seek me out after hearing about the project somehow. They would take me around town, introducing me to anyone or anything I showed interest in, as well as help me gain interest in some of the seedier parts of the community.

PR: Did you find that there was a generation gap - in other words, how did the parents and relatives of the young people you worked with feel about your project and about being photographed? I'm thinking of the photograph of the man sitting at a table with a glass of beer - he seems settled and engaged. Was he a natural or did he take some convincing?

TB: Mike (the gentleman in question) is a bartender at a bar in Boonville, Indiana. My tour guide called him up and told him I was going to be stopping by and that I wanted to hear some stories. Mike is a bit of a rough character, and the bar he worked at is a small brick building on the outskirts of town with a sign that reads "The First and Last Chance."

Entering that bar was one of the scariest things I did during this project. Mike was behind the bar watching TV, and three men were at the bar yelling and laughing and being a bit crude. One of the three guys eventually invited me to go rabbit hunting with him and some friends the day after Christmas. After that we became pretty close for the remainder of my stay and beyond.

I continued to visit Mike almost every night at the bar. I could tell he was hesitant when I talked about my camera or my work, so I held off on asking him to sit for me. I spent 7 weeks in Boonville, Indiana, and on the day before I left, I took that portrait of Mike sitting at the bar. I don't think he would have done it unless we had gotten to know each other so well. So, yes, he took some convincing, and so did many others, but in many cases, it was as simple as my asking the first time.

PR: What are you working on now?

TB: I recently committed to working on a new series in Brooklyn. It's still too early to talk about but I'm very excited about it.

Timothy Briner and fellow photographer Amy Stein will speak about Boonville at Daniel Cooney Fine Art on Saturday, February 6^th at 4:00 pm. 511 West 25th Street, #506. New York, NY. 212.255.8158 or email Dan Cooney. Read Vince Aletti's comments on Boonville in The New Yorker.

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