Gallery to display photographs of Northern Indiana Amish culture and landscapes, Oct. 21-Dec. 7

Exhibit: “The Land of the Amish,” photographs by Dottie Kauffmann (on display Oct. 21-Dec. 7)

Reception date and time: Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007, 2-4 p.m.

Location:The Good Library Gallery

Cost: Free and open to the public.

Event sponsor: The Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee and the Mennonite Historical Library

GOSHEN, Ind. – When one travels some of the back roads of Northern Indiana, the view and landscape is dominated by Amish life and culture. In a new exhibit at the Goshen College Good Library Gallery, visitors will travel these back roads for a unique tour.

Color photographs of the landscape, beauty and material culture of Northern Indiana Amish – taken in 2002 between Nappanee and Shipshewana, Ind. – will be on display in the Goshen College Good Library Gallery from Oct. 21 to Dec. 7. There will be a reception on Oct. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the gallery. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Dottie Kauffmann of Goshen took all of the photographs – 40-plus – as illustrations for the books “Plain Diversity” (Johns Hopkins, 2007) and “An Amish Patchwork” (Indiana University, 2005), both by Goshen College Professor of History Steve Nolt and Goshen College Professor of Sociology Tom Meyers.

The photos are of everyday Amish life – images of houses, horses, fences, men working in the field, beautiful gardens, laundry on the line, auctions, school and family. They also show how Amish lives intersect with the modern world.

Most of the photos with people either show the Amish from a distance or from the back, out of respect for their wish not to be photographed. When Kauffman did take photos of people from the front, she got their permission.

Kauffmann enjoys photography as a hobby – particularly nature photography – and belongs to the Goshen Photographers Guild. She is a 1968 Goshen College graduate and has been a nurse at Goshen General Hospital for 40 years, including the last 28 years as a cardiac rehabilitation nurse. She is married to retired Goshen College Professor of Psychology Duane Kauffmann and they have one adult son. The Kauffmanns enjoy traveling to destinations around the world. “Duane golfs and I take pictures,” Kauffmann said.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Goshen College Mennonite-Amish Museum Committee and the Mennonite Historical Library.

The Library Gallery, located on the lower level of the Harold and Wilma Good Library on the campus of Goshen College, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 11 p.m. Sunday.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.