Long-Term Projects, 3rd prize
Markus Jokela
Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat
05 May, 2015
Matt Kuhlman’s children, Schuyler (18) and Bailey (17), pictured at home.
Table Rock is a small rural community in the northeast part of Pawnee County, Nebraska, in the USA. It was named for a unique rock formation near the Nemaha River. In 1992, Table Rock had 308 citizens%3B in a 2015 census the population was 255. Most people living in Table Rock spend their whole lives there. Some try moving to larger places, but often return to raise their children in their hometown. As with many other Midwestern towns, work is difficult to find. Farms around Table Rock provide employment for some, others seek jobs in neighboring communities.
The photographer is interested in the mundane aspects of everyday life. He first went to Table Rock in 1992. He and a colleague had been commissioned to do a story on American life, and the colleague closed his eyes and put his finger on a point he thought was the middle of the map. That turned out to be Table Rock. In 2009, the photographer became curious about what was happening in the town and so returned. He made a few further visits in the years that followed. For the most part, little had changed.
Markus Jokela
He earned his MA in social sciences at University of Tampere, in Finland. From 1981 to 1993, he wrote as a journalist at the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, and then he became a pho...
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