Will Vogt

In 1969, Will Vogt was given a Nikkormat for his 17th birthday and he has been photographing his social circle ever since. Photography has a long, complicated history with documenting the underprivileged but rarely, if ever, do we see the privileged in the same unvarnished light. Vogt’s images offer a raw glimpse into an American upper class that is inaccessible to most and remarkably unchanged by contemporary society. For over 50 years, while pursuing careers in oil and gas, hunting, and ranching, Vogt continued to document his life with a camera. The images in this book center around Vogt’s family, friends, acquaintances, and particularly the summer residents of Watch Hill, a coastal community in Rhode Island where he has spent summers since childhood. Marked by recurring and special events, get-togethers and overseas excursions, Vogt’s images capture people who frequent elegant gatherings, sprawling seaside cottages, golf clubs and racetracks, Florida plantations, South Texas ranches, and British shooting estates. These Americans is an intimate depiction of one man’s life and a revealing portrait of American elites from 1969 to 1996.