Many of you probably recognize the name Don Burke as someone who has provided many wonderful photos for the site here over the years – as well as a number of excellent guest posts about visits to Amish communities. In today’s post, Don shares with us how he first came to visit one of the Amish communities he grew to know well – that of…
We’re back with part 2 of a two-part Q & A with Don Burke on his Amish photography. If you missed part 1 you can catch up here. In this part Don shares how he chooses which communities to visit, what he’s learned from taking Amish photos, and more. Amish America: Have you ever gotten anything unusual or unexpected while taking pictures? Don Burke: Oh…
Photographer Don Burke has been taking pictures of the Amish for many years, and we have featured his photos here on the site on many occasions since 2014. Don has kindly answered some questions about his photos, interest in the Amish, what the Amish think, and more. This is part one of a two-part interview. Amish America: How long have you been a photographer? Are…
Don Burke is back today to share his visit to the Graber family in Jamesport, Missouri, and his stay at their “Doddy House”. We’ve heard about the Graber family before in other posts from Don (links to follow). Don explains what the Doddy House is below. First off it’s not an Amish grandparents’ house, which is what the term usually refers to in PA Dutch…
Like most Americans, the Amish celebrate Christmas (in fact, some celebrate more than one Christmas). Several seasons ago, Rebecca Miller shared five ways Amish spend the Christmas season with us. Rebecca, member of an Ohio Amish church, closed her list with this: “The main focus of the season is still first of all remembering Christ – the true meaning of Christmas, family, gift-giving, and helping…
New Amish settlements come about in different ways. Sometimes settlers from different places mesh differing backgrounds and church standards to create a new community. More often they have a distinct parent community responsible for the bulk of their initial residents. The daughter communities typically resemble the parent community – but are not necessarily carbon copies of their origin churches. Today Don Burke looks more closely…
What is an Amish church directory? Why do Amish publish them? What kind of info do they contain? In the early days of this website, I did a post on the subject, with a look at my 2002 northern Indiana directory. Don Burke is here to explain further what these guides are, and why you’ll find them in many an Amish home. At last count…
What’s it like to attend Amish church as an outsider? In previous posts, we followed Don and Pam Burke as they made their first trips to the Amish in Ohio and in Pennsylvania. In this third post in the series, Don and Pam take us along to a Lancaster County Amish church service*. If you’ve never attended an Amish church service, Don and Pam do…
Earlier this month, Don Burke gave us the story of how he first visited the Amish in Ohio, along with photos from that trip. We left off as he and his wife Pam were about to continue on — for a first visit to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. So let’s rejoin them now for the next portion of the journey… Don: As we ended the previous…
If you’ve read this site for some time, you’ll know Don Burke has been a long-time contributor here, sharing his visits and top-notch photos from Amish communities around the country. For a few examples, see Don’s trips to Ethridge, Tennessee, inside a Missouri Amish home, or at an “Amish-ish” wedding. Today Don tells us the story of how he happened to first visit the Amish,…