Mennonites of Southern Illinois: A Photographic Journal

＂In the World But Not of It＂

Offering a glimpse into a world largely misunderstood by mainstream society, this book documents the period of eight years that Jane Flynn practiced with Mennonites in two different Southern Illinois communities: Stonefort, and Mount Pleasant in Anna. Despite her status as an outsider, Flynn was welcomed and allowed to photograph the Mennonites in their homes, making applesauce, farming, and beekeeping.

Escaping persecution from the Catholic Church in Europe, the Mennonites arrived in America in 1683, settling in what is now Pennsylvania. Today, they live in almost all 50 states, Canada, and South America. To reflect the Mennonites’ manual-labor lifestyle, Flynn processed her black-and-white photographs by hand and hand-printed them in a dark room. The imagery explores the Mennonites’ labors, leisure, and faith by documenting their homes, places of work and worship, and the Illinois Ozark landscape they inhabit.

Similar to the Amish and the Quakers, Mennonites consider the Bible the supreme authority and insist on a separation between church and state. To enact that separation, they distinguish themselves from society in speech, dress, business, recreation, education, pacifism, and by refusing to participate in politics. They believe in nonconformity to the world, discipleship, and being born again through adult baptism. With Mennonites of Southern Illinois, Jane Flynn provides representation for these closed communities and illustrates the Mennonites’ struggle to find and maintain balance between rustic and modern life while remaining faithful to their religious beliefs.

Jane Flynn received her MFA in media arts with a focus on photography from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her work appears frequently in professional exhibitions in the United States and internationally, such as The Montgomery Photo Festival presented by the Society of Arts & Crafts, the Women’s Caucus Exhibition of the World Record FotoFocus Biennial, and the 29th Cedarhurst Biennial. Recipient of the 2022 Merit Award in Black & White from the 2022 Montgomery Photo Festival, Flynn continues practicing photography and specializes in capturing her subjects in their natural, unedited form.