Old Church Gallery Spring Opening – Kindly Mirrors: Early Photography of Richard “Dick” Shank & Gertrue Vest Shank

Exhibit of early Floyd County photographs, “Kindly Mirrors,” showcases amazing Floyd County scenes, looking back on rural life through the lens of thirty large-format prints taken by the Shanks between 1912 and 1916. Among the 160 negatives preserved by generations of the Shank family are scenes from the farm Dick and Gertrue were renting (now Riverstone Farm), as well as the Shank and Vest farms in the Stonewall and Flint communities of Floyd County. Our “Kindly Mirrors” show title reflects Vladimir Nabokov’s writing: “…to portray ordinary objects as they will be reflected in the kindly mirrors of future times…when every trifle of our plain everyday life will become exquisite…”