|
|
|
~ empty ~
 |
| Photo Information |
Copyright: Brian Hartley (akula802)
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 68 W: 3 N: 135]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-n-g.gif) (1099) |
| Genre: Places |
| Medium: Color |
| Date Taken: 2005-11-15 |
| Camera: Canon EOS 20D, EF 28-90mm |
| Photo Version: Original Version |
| Date Submitted: 2006-08-12 16:36 |
| Viewed: 570 |
| Favorites: 1 [view] |
| Points: 6 |
|
| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Packed up and gone...
North Dakota, in my opinion, is America's most unique state. It is the only place where one can see -60F in the winter and 101F a few months later.
It is the only place I've seen that can go from drought to flood in less than an hour, and one would have a hard time finding another state which declines in population so steadily with each census that is taken.
It is a land of rise and fall, advance and retreat, of overwhelm and subside. This applies to its industry, its water, its weather, its culture and its people.
This particular home in Oliver County was a testament to the recession of at least one life, changed forever by the wide open prairies of the northern Dakota Territory.
There has always been a promise here of hope, prosperity, and happiness. I think about the days where a man or a woman could claim 160 acres of empty land just by showing up, and I think about how much Old Dakota has in common with what I've witnessed of the New Dakota.
I attended a social gathering recently, where I sat and talked with an elderly woman whose family used to farm the rich soils of the Red River Valley. The cost of running a farm has risen tenfold, but if the prices of grain and crops were ever to rise with the same model of inflation, you and I would barely be able to afford a loaf of bread.
It is still outside interests, big businesses from far away, and men in suits from distant cities who control so much of where this place is going. That much hasn't changed.
And it is still the little guy, the ones at the bottom of the corporate food chain, continuing to tax their bodies in thankless labor and still managing to look ahead with a smile... it is still these people who define what North Dakota truly means the the rest of the world.
The only things that are changing are the names of the people who are coming and going.
www.losthighwayphoto.com |
nicapaixao, atarisphoto, ApoXX, Click3 has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekLens members may rate photo notes. |
|
|
|
this is an amazing photo and if it was taken on our trip i am going to be really mad that i missed it...the colors and composition are perfect...although it could be a little sharper...but that is minor...i think what really makes it is the note that accompanies it...you can really feel your love for north dakota...the midwest...and the days gone by...peace***
- ApoXX (270)
- [2006-08-12 18:09]
- [+]
Beautiful photo and a poignant commentary. You've done a worlderful job capturing the gritty yet surreal life on the high plains of North Dakota. With mounting support for biofuels, I think we may yet see a farmstead revival.
-
- Click3
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 196 W: 19 N: 135]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(1182) - [2006-08-13 0:42]
-
Brian...a very "moving" photo & comment..think this is also an important part of photography: not only showing the beautifull locations but these which also entail real life and should make us appreciate what we have. Thanks for sharing, regards, Robert
