Caption by photographer (Andrews): "Bill learned to braid leather when he was a child. His father did not want him to learn that craft so he would take the strands of leather under the covers of his bed at night and practice braiding simply by feel. He could do any sort of braid from the most simple to making what he called a "rosette", a round knot woven from 16 strands of leather, seemingly with no beginning or end."
The Jesse Andrews photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011.
This item is made available for research, scholarship, and private study. Copyright in this item has not been transferred to Duke University. For reuses of this item beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please consult: https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.
131 photos from several of Andrews’ projects, including portraits from North Carolina, Virginia, and New York City; and photographs of Halifax and Pittsylvania counties.