Wendy Ewald was born in Detroit, Michigan, graduated from Abbot Academy in 1969 and attended Antioch College between 1969 and 1974, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied photography with Minor White.

In 1982, she traveled to Ráquira, Colombia, on a Fulbright fellowship working with children and community groups; spending a further two years in Gujarat, India.

[2] In recent years, Ewald has produced a number of conceptual installations—for example, in Margate, England, and in Amherst, Massachusetts—making use of large-scale photographic banners.

Published in 1985, this book is a collection of photographs and writings that focused on students Ewald taught in the Appalachian Mountains.

This was Ewald's first attempt to document an entire country, and the first use of digital cameras and color photography in her international projects.