More Cooning With Cooners

Edited from a carousel of Kodachrome slides documenting raccoon-hunting expeditions in 1960s Ohio, these images offer a glimpse into a distinctly American pastime. Little is known about the photographer or companions beyond the dates stamped on the slide mounts and the occasional Ohio licence plate. The recurrence of the same hunters suggests an intimate familiarity between camera and subject. A green trailer references the title of Otto Kuechler’s 1924 book, Cooning with Cooners, an anthology of raccoon-hunting stories accompanied by occasional photographs. The book’s images appear to establish a visual language echoed decades later in the Kodachromes, where particular poses, gestures and rituals persist, absorbed into the intimate vocabulary of the family photograph.

Two raccoons sitting on a sun-bleached floral patterned chair, near a white-washed wooden wall, with a window and a fishing rod visible.

A man poses with a dog, behind them is a green vintage car and trailer with a sign that reads 'COONING With COONERS'

A man poses with a dog, holding the head and tail, with a red rose bush and house siding in the background.

A young girl with blond hair tied with a red ribbon, wearing a light blue shirt, is playing with a black dog in a fenced yard during daytime, with houses, trees, and bicycles in the background.

A group of hunters dressed in old-fashioned outdoor clothing standing in front of a weathered wooden building at night.

A person wearing a red hat, beige jacket and blue jeans is climbing a tree at night, surrounded by leafless branches.

A black and white dog barking in front of a large tree trunk at something high up, night time.

Close-up of the moon with passing clouds.

Two young boys and dog sitting on the ground in front of a vintage dark green car, with raccoon tails hanging from the car.

A man wearing a colorful, checkered shirt and red hat holding a dog outside at night, sitting on the tailgate of a vintage white car, with dead raccoons and a dog cage in the back. Illuminated with flash.

A child sitting on the ground in front of a large display of raccoon pelts with a dog next to him.

A man posing with his dog in front of a shed decorated with numerous raccoon pelts and a sign that reads 'Coon Season 68 69'. Bottles of moonshine in the foreground.

back to top