Paradox Revisited: The Beauty Amidst Decay
This was my second trip to Rugby ND, the geographic center of North America. It was not my intention to return this year. I felt compelled to go back; I had started something that needed to be continued.
Initially settled by homesteaders who, when they staked their claim, got 160 acres for the family farm. As agriculture and farming have become big business, 160 acres can no longer support a family. So farms were combined, generations have passed, and the population has moved into town. It has been more cost effective to leave the old homesteads where they stood and plow around them. The houses have become reoccupied by various forms of wildlife, that in turn have staked their own claims.
These houses bear remnants of their previous human occupants, some have become dumping grounds, elaborate hunting blinds, and many have become hangouts to sit and drink. Photographing pieces of people’s lives that remain intact in some of the homes, furniture left in place, clothing still hung in closets or on hooks, dishes and kitchen appliances either on the counter or in a cabinet. A few of the houses have only recently been abandoned, while no one is living in them they are still owned by the family and are now primarily used for the outbuildings to store the multitude of farm implements that go along with the life of the American farmer.
This project has proven to be a far more emotional experience than I had ever thought possible. In some homes I see items that remind me of my own childhood. Little bits of peoples lives left behind that maintain a certain elegance and beauty. Whether it be a lace curtain, torn and shredded still wafting in the window, a chair with carved legs but no back that had been sat on for decades or dresses hung in the closet. These are all reminders of someone’s past and the life they lived.
