chalkdog's photostream  

Flickr as blog - Driving in rural southern Illinois sometimes also provides a harsh look at poverty levels, which have been low in the area for decades, and have worsened. I'm aware of discussion about the appropriateness of photographing the unfortunate circumstances of the poor, yet scenes such as this have been a large part of my life for a long time as I've travelled through these areas to visit family.
I try to be careful that I view such scenes with the awareness that I have no knowledge of the circumstances or history of whoever may live here. I especially try to keep in mind the vast numbers of people living below the poverty line and what that truly means and looks like when I hear the rhetoric of glibly dismissive, wealthy politicians.

flickr as blog - Again, so difficult to photograph these completely flat midwestern fields. The emotional resonance of family history in such places evades verbal description as well. It seems that ever since college and art school, I've attempted to come to terms with these stretches of emptiness and low horizons.