{"id":2899,"date":"2023-11-16T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=2899"},"modified":"2023-11-16T07:49:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T12:49:22","slug":"photoroll-country-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2023\/11\/16\/photoroll-country-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"photo+roll: “Country Doctor,” LIFE, June 1998"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Laura Smith, Photo Archivist<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post is part of a new blog series, photo+roll, featuring photographs from the Documentary Photography Archive. <\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, November 16th, is National Rural Health Day which celebrates and brings awareness to rural health care providers and their impact on communities. According to the National Rural Health Association, \u201cThe patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas.\u201d (1)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/span>Lynn Johnson Collection<\/span><\/a> contains photographs which document the work \u2013 or, rather, work-life balance \u2013 of Dr. David Loxterkamp who practiced rural medicine in Belfast, Maine (at the time the photographs were taken in 1998, Belfast\u2019s population was approximately 6,500). (2) <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp sees a patient in his office, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1997, <\/span>Loxterkamp<\/span> published<\/span> \u201c<\/span><\/span>A Measure of My Days: The Journal of a Country Doctor,”<\/span><\/span><\/a> which<\/span><\/span>\u00a0gave <\/span>readers a look into his work<\/span> and life <\/span>as it <\/span>occurred five years earlier in 1992. In early 1998,<\/span> photojournalist Lynn Johnson was sent on assignment by L<\/span>IFE magazine to document Loxterkamp for a feature story titled<\/span>\u00a0\u201cCountry Doctor.<\/span>” *<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp examines a woman about to give birth, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s <\/span>photographs <\/span>p<\/span>rovide<\/span> visual <\/span>glimpse<\/span>s<\/span> into<\/span> Loxterkamp\u2019s<\/span> life,<\/span> rural health care<\/span>,<\/span> and the <\/span>Belfast, Maine community <\/span>\u2013 albeit <\/span>nearly six<\/span> years after <\/span>Loxterkamp<\/span> first wrote his journal entries \u2013 as <\/span>he met with<\/span> patients<\/span> of all ages in <\/span>his<\/span> office, at their homes, in nursing homes<\/span>, or at the local<\/span> hospital<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp meets with patient Phil Spaulding in Spaulding’s home, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"View<\/a>
A toddler leans into his caregiver while looking skeptically at Dr. Loxterkamp, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp checks the throat of a patient in a nursing home, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The images also show<\/span> Loxterkamp<\/span> at<\/span> home juggling<\/span> life as a doctor and a parent: <\/span>from <\/span>taking <\/span>evening <\/span>phone calls from patients<\/span> while his family eats supper to<\/span> comforting his sick son in the morning before heading to work. <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp, at home, takes a phone call from a patient, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp kneels to embrace his three year old son, John, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the <\/span>numerous<\/span> published<\/span> im<\/span>ages<\/span> of <\/span>Loxt<\/span>erkamp\u2019s<\/span> work and life<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> \u201cCountry Doctor\u201d <\/span>article <\/span>(<\/span>35<\/span> to be exact!)<\/span>, <\/span>they are only a fraction of the hundreds<\/span> of images<\/span> taken by Johnson. <\/span>In <\/span>the Lynn Johnson C<\/span>o<\/span>llection, <\/span>more of the<\/span> story <\/span>can be seen <\/span>though <\/span><\/span>contact sheets<\/span><\/span><\/a> made from the original negatives<\/span>.<\/span> For example, in the following contact sheet<\/span> for roll LJ021798-PP<\/span>, sequential <\/span>imag<\/span>es show <\/span>Lo<\/span>xterkamp<\/span> on his<\/span> morning run, <\/span>as he <\/span>tries to help his wife, Lindsay, coax their son into taking cold medicine, <\/span>and while getting<\/span> ready for work<\/span>. <\/span>In<\/span> the last nine frames shot on that roll,<\/span> he <\/span>is at the office working on <\/span>paperwork, making calls, and preparing <\/span>with<\/span> a nurse for the day ahead. <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Contact<\/a>
Country Doctor: Roll LJ021798-PP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his journal, Dr. Loxterkamp reflected on how he prepared for his busy days, giving himself the mindfulness to be a better doctor for his patients: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI am thankful for my two morning hours and for the occasional long run or drive in the country. These snatches of calm, spliced into a relentless schedule, are my bread and wine. They require only a space where I sit and listen and let the possibilities come. They take but a moment. And bringing solace to the doctor, they solace the patient too, who seeks quiet attention in the midst of the storm,\u201d p. 37. (4)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"View<\/a>
Dr. David Loxterkamp sees a patient in his office – view of Loxterkamp’s shoes and the patient’s shoes, 1998<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

* For a bit of additional photo history: LIFE’s 1998 \u201cCountry Doctor\u201d story on Dr. Loxterkamp was a nod to the 50th anniversary of photographer W. Eugene Smith’s<\/a> 1948 photo essay of the same name. Smith\u2019s “Country Doctor” documented the day-to-day work of Dr. Ernest Ceriani in Kremmling, Colorado (view Smith’s “Country Doctor” in the Internet Archive)<\/a>. Loxterkamp reflected frequently in his journal on Smith\u2019s photo essay and Dr. Ceriani\u2019s work. In particular, Loxterkamp wrote, \u201c…<\/span>We are nearing the fiftieth anniversary of Doc Ceriani\u2019s arrival in Kremmling (1947) and the publication of Smith\u2019s famous photo essay (1948). Perhaps the jubilee might spark some discussion of his legacy, without nostalgia or a rush to judgement. Have we, the heirs of general practice, identified the enemy, heeded the warnings, changed or adjusted to the harsh conditions?…Ernest Ceriani and Gene Smith were strong men of enormous talent, fighting a changing enemy as well as the demons within. What can we say about them, finally, in fairness, and gratitude, and love for their labor?<\/span><\/i>\u201d, p. 211. (3) <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore more:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

View more images from \u201cCountry Doctor\u201d<\/span><\/a> in the Libraries\u2019 Digital Archives. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about other materials relating to science and medicine<\/span><\/a> held in the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions? <\/span>Get in touch<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

(1) National Rural Health Association. About Rural Health Care. <\/span>https:\/\/www.ruralhealth.us\/about-nrha\/about-rural-health-care,<\/span><\/a> accessed 2023 November 15.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(2) Country Doctor. LIFE, June 1998. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3, 4) Loxterkamp, David. 1997. A Measure of My Days : The Journal of a Country Doctor. Hanover N.H: University Press of New England.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laura Smith, Photo Archivist  This post is part of a new blog series, photo+roll, featuring photographs from the Documentary Photography Archive.   Today, November 16th, is National Rural Health Day which celebrates and brings awareness to rural health care providers and their impact on communities. According to the National Rural Health Association, \u201cThe patient-to-primary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[143,24,142],"class_list":["post-2899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-documentary-photography-archive","tag-health","tag-lynn-johnson","tag-photographs"],"modified_by":"Laura Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2899"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2936,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2899\/revisions\/2936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}