Grandpa's Hands (2011)
Grandpa's Hands (2011)
40x30in. Nikon digital photography.
Thomas James (TJ) Kearney, an Arkansas sharecropper and descendent of Arkansas slaves, at age 105, holding his youngest great-grandchild at the time, who was less than one-year old. TJ lived to be 107. He and his wife had 19 children, 18 of whom graduated college. The majority went on to receive advanced degrees, becoming lawyers, judges, and public servants. Several worked in President Clinton’s Arkansas administration, with two joining him in his presidential administration.
When I captured this image, I was struck by all of the history my grandfather had experienced, evident in every line and wrinkle. And, that was juxtaposed with all of the unbridled possibilities available to his children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren because of his life’s work, accomplished largely through the sweat of TJ’s brow, with hands literally on the plow.
