Lost Nation Series

I have been photographing a body of work entitled The Lost Nation Photographs for nearly twelve years. I use my camera to call attention to what I see, looking for moments in everyday life that go beyond the ordinary. There is a brokenness that is everywhere I go. In the sadness, there is incredible beauty and humanity. I feel that these photographs contain a visual and spiritual message about living in America at the present time.

Lost Nation is the name of a small eastern Iowa town, close to where I grew up. The town's name speaks of something larger. As a nation, it sometimes feels that we are losing our way. The life that I knew growing up is slowly disappearing. There is a blind acceptance of valuing the new and generic over the well-worn with character. Malls, Walmarts, suburbs and massive housing developments are sprawling in every direction. Many main streets of small towns are crumbling and empty.