Scott Photographic Series
Dublin Core
Title
Scott Photographic Series
Subject
John Scott Daily Life (photo #00003)
Description
Neil Rappaport did a series of photographs of John Scott and his surroundings in 1974. He was a close neighbor and Neil was fascinated by the exactitude of his solitary life, both visually and in reality. His wife Mabel had already been in a nursing home for over a year when Neil first met John at the Butternut Bend Store during the time he was making portraits of the regular customers. John was clearly lonely and a great storyteller so he welcomed Neil's regular visits with his camera and let him make photographs all over the house. At one time the teachers who taught at the one-room schoolhouse next door lived in the small upstairs apartment and the other room had been Mabel's. John left it as it was while she was using it as her bedroom. John had been a steeplejack and painter by trade and even though he was in his nineties, he was still doing a lot of painting and roof work on properties he owned or rented in the area. He worked quite a bit with his friend Leslie Smith. As the story goes, he walked the ridgepole of his family home place on his ninetieth birthday and painted the whole downstairs of his house every spring instead of letting the housekeeper do a spring-cleaning. He lived with one cat and ate one meal a day with breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same plate. After the meal he had a shot of whiskey, smoked a small cigar and took a nap. He often said his favorite memory was seeing apple trees bloom.
Type
Citation
“Scott Photographic Series,” Pawlet Community Study (1890-1990), accessed September 22, 2024, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/pawlet/items/show/1472.
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