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My friend Joe.
Joe Clark
came from a tiny place in the mountains
Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.
Though he moved away young
to make a living,
his heart never left.
And through his camera the world came to know his beloved hills and hollows
and his people in both Appalachia and in America's industrial heartland of
Detroit.
Joe's greatest gift wasn't his technical skill
of a master photographer, though he certainly was that,
Joe Clark had a way of capturing the extraordinary and ordinary moments.
Every picture tells a story Joe liked to say
and one frame at a time Joe Clark told some of the best American stories.
Stories about the regular folks,
about quiet craftsmanship,
about the pride of the place.
The first time Joe raised a camera his photos were good enough for Life
magazine
and yet Joe always called himself the hillbillies snap shooter.
His enduring subjects were
simple things
the warmth of home, the value of craftsmanship,
the power of good friendships. So Joe was a natural choice for photographer
when Jack Daniels developed its first ad campaign
in the fifties.
Focusing on the distillery and its people in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Joe hired on and over the next 38 years his images help transformed
the company's product from barely know
to the world's best selling whiskey.
Yet Joe never acted like a big-time photographer.
He was always just Joe.
Around Lynchburg in the rickyard,
by the still house, around the barrel trucks.
Joe greeted folks by name.
He shared laughs.
Everyone soon forgot about the camera and the master in their midst.
Like Jack Daniels, Joe's magic wasn't so much about making whiskey
or taking pictures as about sustaining relationships.
He showed us something important
about what is best about ourselves
and that's why I'm here
to honor my dear friend of long,
Joe Clark.