Peter Feldstein, 1942 – 2017

In Memoriam:

Peter Feldstein, 1942 – 2017

We were saddened to hear of the death, on December 1 2017, of Peter Feldstein. Peter was a photographer, teacher and mentor to many over his long career, and a friend to Sarah Smelser and Jonathan Higgins of Manneken Press.

Peter Feldstein

The Oxford Project

Peter taught for many years at the University of Iowa, but was best known for The Oxford Project, a photographic opus he began in 1984. In it he captured the portraits and words of all of the inhabitants of Oxford, the small town where he lived outside of Iowa City. In 2004 he photographed the remaining people once again, juxtaposing their likenesses with reflections on their lives, twenty years removed. The Oxford Project became a traveling exhibition and a book with author Stephen Bloom, published by Welcome Books in 2008. As both a work of art and a document of rural life, it garnered a lot of attention, with many interviews and notices including The New York Times; and  NPR.

Parallel to The Oxford Project was Peter’s “real” work; the pursuit of an abstract sensibility in photography. His interests included cliche´ verre, a hybrid of drawing and photography, for which he would create non-photographic negatives. Jonathan worked with Peter on a series of photogravure prints in 1998. Peter made tiny hand-drawn negatives as the source for the prints. His frenetic gestures and intriguing textures were rendered in the finished prints, which can be viewed here. His interests eventually turned toward exploration of the digital technology which was rapidly redefining the field of photography. As an artist Peter was fully engaged, and he left behind a huge and varied body of work. He was also a sweet and caring man who will be greatly missed.

Iowa Portraits

Peter can be viewed in this YouTube video speaking about his “Iowa Portraits”, a major photographic commission at the University of Iowa.