Lucas Foglia and Intentional Communities

[wogears]

<p>Someone on dpreview.com (!) pointed me to the work of <a href="http://lucasfoglia.com/a-natural-order/">Lucas Foglia</a>. Now maybe it's my fascination with intentional communities, or my love of the 'film look', but his work seems superb to me. Shot with a Hasselblad and an 80mm lens with a Leaf 75 MP back, the images themselves are gorgeous (even online), with a depth and realism that is wonderful to see. They also document a fascinating aspect of contemporary American life with a strong eye and a firm vision. I will probably order the sixty-dollar book.</p>

<p>Les</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Wow! You're right, Les, gorgeous low contrast photography. Looks like a lot of them are captured under diffused overcast natural light with maybe a bounced fill for high contrast sunlight shots. I don't see any indication of flash. </p>

<p>Now I just have to flatten all settings in my Raw converter to try and approach the detailed clarity and shadow roll off of low contrast shots like that without screwing up the color especially in the skin tones. </p>

<p>Strange community he captured. Can't tell if they're hippies or Amish folk. Nice place to visit but I don't think I'ld want to live there. </p>

<p>Thanks for posting.</p>

<p> </p>

[cyanatic]

<p>Les, thanks. The photography, the vision, and the subject matter...fantastic. My wife was looking over my shoulder at his work and it's just amazing. </p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>Thank you Lex - Foglia shows wonderful vision, compassion and perspective. I am in awe of some of these photos.</p>

[lisae]

<p>Fascinating. We homeschool (for other reasons) and there are a lot of homeschoolers who romanticize the off-the-grid lifestyle. (I don't!) It's fascinating to get such an intimate glimpse at the reality of an intentional community. I also have an MA in Anthropology. I would love to read more studies about the psychology of this sort of segregation.</p>

<p>Tim, I'm assuming you know that there is a large one outside of Waco called Brazos de Dios. They welcome visitors to their shops and teach classes. I'm not sure about their religious affiliation, but they live like Anabaptists or Mennonites.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I've been fascinated by intentional communities too, although much of my "work" has been on 19th c and earlier communities like the Harmonists or the Shakers.</p>

[wogears]

<p>Bill Allard has had a very long relationship with people in the Montana Hutterite communities, and has some very revealing images of them. He also photographed an Amish community very early in his career.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>No, Lisa, I wasn't aware of such a community in Waco, but then as a native Texan I've found there's a lot of stuff in Texas that gets hidden away like the Warren Jeffs polygamist community which was darn near throwing distance from where I lived at the time of the investigation. Not saying what's portrayed in the linked gallery is anywhere near that type of community.</p>

<p>Texas is a great place to hide. It's big enough for sure.</p>

<p>mmh..."Intentional Communities"...wonder how many grants it took to come up with that million dollar term. Don't suppose this applies to Charles Manson's "The Family"? He'ld probably scoff as he usually does.</p>

[SCL]

<p>Fascinating, beautiful shots. Thanks for the link.</p>