Book's photographs chronicle life in dryland wheat country

In 2010, Lionel Delevingne and Steve Turner produced a book titled “Drylands: A Rural American Saga,” which the content focused on agricultural development in Adams County.

Lionel Delevingne is a native of France but moved to the United States in 1975 to pursue a career in photography. Soon after his arrival in the U.S., he met Turner and they began combining their journalistic talents to produce various publications.

Turner wrote the book “Amber Waves and Undertow: Peril, Hope, Sweat and Downright Nonchalance in Dry Wheat Country” that focused on the agricultural community in Adams County. Turner has worked as a freelance journalist and has written articles for publications such as the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the San Francisco Examiner.

Turner also wrote articles for the Year Books of the Colliers and Encarta encyclopedias among many others. Turner currently resides in Santa Cruz, Calif., but also spends a significant amount of time in Ritzville.

Delevingne lives in Boston, Mass., but spends the majority of his time traveling the country photographing various lifestyles. Most of his work has been based on rural living in America and education around the world.

Turner’s book “Amber Waves and Undertow,” is the prequel to the co-authorship of “Drylands.” His book gives the history of Adams County and shows the life of the people here through words.

A photo of Delevinge’s is used at the book cover for Turner’s book, and it was because of this photograph that they had the opportunity to coproduce their book. The publisher of “Amber Waves and Undertow” saw the photo and wanted to see more so Turner and Delevingne returned to Adams County.

“Core of the book, my real desire, is to do what a writer conveys with beautiful words, that is what I’ve tried to do with my photography,” said Delevingne. “I want to open the eyes of people whose brains work that way, by looking at photographs.”

Turner discovered Adams County during the summer after his junior year of college. He was living and working in Walla Walla with a few of his fraternity brothers but they soon ran out of work. They looked in the paper and saw an advertisement for truck drivers in Lind and called about the jobs.

“The funny thing is, we lied to get those jobs,” said Turner. “I’d never driven a truck in my life. We stopped at a dealership on the way to the job and learned the basic gear shift.”

Turner spent the summer working on the farm and hauling grain into Lind. He fell in love with Adams County during that summer, with the history, the people and most importantly the land.

Before “Drylands: A Rural American Saga” was published, Turner and Delevingne were traveling through Adams County putting together a piece about vanishing small towns. Delevingne loved the landscape and captured the beauty surrounding him the way he knew how, through photography.

“There is a terrifying beauty to someone who is not used to that space,” said Delevingne. “To me, it’s not terrifying, it’s beautiful. I discovered this diverse place: it’s the top of the world.”

The book focuses on the rural lifestyle of the towns in Adams County and how agricultural progress is beneficial and also a hindrance to the farmers there. Turner noticed this dynamic during his time living in Adams County that progress helped the farmers but it took away from jobs and the land.

“The summary in the picture book (Drylands), it is about forces of progress are what is whittling the population away,” said Turner. “It is about the shrinking rural territory in the U.S.”

Delevingne and Turner have created a journalistic friendship which helps them to appreciate the talent of each other. Delevingne agreed to the book because he wanted to create a tribute to Turner’s friendship and the people of Adams County.

Due to the success of the first book, there is a second edition and publication that the duo is currently working on. It will be similar to the first book and will include about 110 photographs from Delevingne’s portfolio that capture the point of view of Adams County.

Delevingne hopes to make a trip back to Ritzville next spring or summer with his wife but also hopes that Turner will be able to join them. If they both travel to Ritzville at the same time, they intend on hosting a book signing for their new publication.

“Amber Waves and Undertows and Drylands: A Rural American Saga” can be purchased at amazon.com. To view more photographs from “Drylands,” visit delevingne.com.