POPULATION 800 - Small towns, UtahEven if there had been no background of Joseph Smith, Angel Moroni

POPULATION 800 - Small towns, UtahEven if there had been no background of Joseph Smith, Angel Moroni and the Book of Mormons, Utahns would have been incomprehensible, misunderstood and lied about, because they set down in the book of Western history the most stubbornly cross-grained chapter it contains. All the conventions of Western life in Utah went haywire. Only late, and briefly did Utahns turn feverish, like their neighbors, with get-rich-quickness. Wars of cattle baron and homesteader dissolved at Utah’s borders, because farmers had come first to the creeks. Lynch law wandered into the bishops’ courts to sit in the back pews and watch, bemused, the quiet sanity of theological justice. Immaculate woman and scarlet woman together lifted their petticoats to take flight before family migrations and polygamy. Utah has always had a way of doing things different. The rest of the country never quite got over it.  - Utah: A Guide to the State (WPA, 1941)While obtaining my Bachelor of Fine Art, I spent alot of my time during those six years at Brigham Young University runningaway.  First finding the need to get outof Provo, then Utah, and eventually America. It resulted in a lot of adventures,stories, and long drives. In these long drives I consistently ran into each oneof these small Utah towns, consisting of a corner store, a post office, and achild being pulled on a Radio Flyer. One after another after another.  Slow down to 30 and watch the same old stylesigns from shops past inch through your windows until you can speed back up to70 again. Eventually, falling in love with these towns and wanting to know moreabout the history, the stories, the people. And thus began this project oversix years ago.Temporarily quenching my wanderlust, these townsmade me feel as if I was thousand of miles away, when in reality I was only anhour’s drive. It expanded my ability to go out of my comfort zone, to wanderaimlessly, to be patient while people told me their life stories. Helped merealize that each one of these mysterious towns has its own individual soul,just like any other major (or small) city in the world I will one day findmyself in.Since returning to Utah after a couple year stint inChicago, I have picked up the project again. Anxious to dive deeper into thesetowns, reminding me of why I love this mountainous desert of a state, and allthe little places tucked away into each valley.With an education in commercial photography and afascination with ethnography, Christine Armbruster blends commercial anddocumentary photography to create her own unique style. This lends hercommercial work to have soul and feel natural, and her documentary projectseasily adaptable for commercial clients. With an easy going personality, people from all overthe world have become quick to trust Armbruster and allow her to photographthem, whether nomads of the Arabian Desert or coffee pickers of the DominicanRepublic. Her series have been published internationally and in galleriesthroughout America and publications internationally. Technically based out ofSalt Lake City, Utah, she spends most of her time living out of the trunk ofher car or a backpack, finding herself on the road more frequently in her ownbed. To see more of her series, visit her website at www.christinearmbruster.com. You can also find her on www.instagram.com/armbrusterphoto and www.facebook.com/christinearmbrusterphotography. -- source link

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