Photographer Emmet Gowin is known for his work in the late 1960s, but a new collection of his photography provides a fresh look at his most personal subject matter. His new book, Baldwin Street: Photographs 1966–1994, presents images taken in Danville, Virginia, where Gowin documented the daily lives of his wife Edith’s family. These homes on a dead-end street housed farmers, mill workers, and clergy, offering a stark contrast to Gowin’s own upbringing as the son of a Methodist minister.
Gowin began this work shortly after marrying Edith in 1964. He viewed his photography as an agreement between subject and photographer, rooted in respect and observation. Rather than simple snapshots, these images document a specific community and the feminine clan that anchored it. Many of these photographs are public for the first time, as Gowin rediscovered the original negatives during the pandemic.
The publication, released by Princeton University Press, features commentary from the photographer and an interview with the couple conducted by Joel Smith. These materials clarify the history of the Baldwin Street community and the intent behind Gowin’s long-term project. The book provides context for work that resides in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art.
By revisiting these negatives decades later, the public gains a wider view of how a family lived across three decades. This project stands as a record of small-town American life through the perspective of an outsider who married into the fold. The work remains relevant for its technical quality and its focus on the human connections that defined his early career.