Muleskinning and the Art of Slowing Down
When I saw a link to Lisa Whiteman’s photo essay on “muleskinning”, I was like oh dear god what am I getting myself into here. But it turns out that a muleskinner is a mule driver, particularly one who travels by mule in groups.
I met Ronald in 2009, when I attempted to make a shot-but-never-finished documentary about him and a group of his muleskinner friends who regularly take recreational road trips across North Carolina. A “muleskinner” is the term used for a mule driver, but it also refers to the microculture of the caravan. They pull over at night to sleep on farms and in the yards of churches and friends, their sleeping bags or old quilts laid out in the backs of their wagons. They open up a can of Beanee Weenee, or splurge on a “fish dinner” — what they affectionately call a tin of sardines. Sometimes they chase it down with a few sips of homemade moonshine they’ve brought in Mason jars, sitting around a campfire and telling stories they’ve shared a thousand times.
A lovely story and photos of a US subculture I knew nothing about until today. You can check out more of Whiteman’s work on her website or on Instagram.
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