The Art of Photojournalism: Image of the Month
The Amish, January 1989, Roger Bamber
By Alan Sparrow
It has been reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health that a fifth person has died of measles. The state has reported 943 confirmed cases of measles and around 3,000 cases have been reported country wide. A shock to a country that was declared measles free in 2000.
The heart of the outbreak in Pennsylvania is among Amish families. The Amish have a low take up rate for vaccinations with only around 50% of the population being vaccinated. To have herd immunity, vaccinations need to be around 95%.
The Governor of Pennsylvania commented recently on X that *“Just a few years ago, Secretary (Robert) Kennedy was in Lancaster downplaying the severity of measles and saying that the cure was ‘chicken soup and vitamin A,’” he continued. “Secretary Kennedy has stoked confusion amongst parents and others — and the result has been less protection from measles and more cases.”
The Amish is a traditional Christian church whose adherents shun modern convenience, wear old-style clothes and are reluctant to use contemporary medicine. Around 90,000 Amish are believed to live in the area and only a quarter are thought to have been vaccinated. History, it seem, is repeating itself. In January 1989 photographer Roger Bamber travelled to New York State to photograph them.
At the time Amish children were being struck down by a whooping cough epidemic and they were being treated with lemon juice and honey. Three babies died, becoming the first whooping cough fatalities in America for three years. It was big news with this tragedyhappening only 300 miles north of New York City.
Bamber, who died in 2022 aged 78, was a prolific photographer earning many awards, and this photo was British Press Awards winner in 1990.
In his book Out of the Ordinary published in 2023, he writes: “The Amish try not to use machines of any kind including cameras, so although they welcome tourists children are always told to not to pose for photographers... but this little girl couldn’t resist peeping at what was going on”.
Roger Bamber graduated from Leicester College in 1963 and worked locally in an adverting agency before travelling a year later to Fleet Street clutching his portfolio. The Daily Mail took him and he worked there for the next four years and then moved across to the newly launched tabloid Sun.
He stayed there for 19 years and travelled on many assignments, including to Barbados to photograph Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, and following many other stories around the world. In 1973 he was Photographer of the Year for a photograph of a victim of the IRA bomb attack on the Old Bailey.
His work brought many accolades including twice Photographer of the Year, once for a Sun portfolio and on another occasion for a set for the Guardian, twice News Photographer of the Year and many times Features Photographer of the Year and Arts Photographer of the Year,
Born in Leicester he settled in Brighton and was recognised by the University of Brighton with the award of an honorary master’s degree “for his distinguished photojournalism and the wealth of images of Brighton inspired by the city”.
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*(https://x.com/GovernorShapiro/status/2092657146282319874)