Middlecountry

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Aside from a few years spent on the East and West coasts to pursue education, I have lived most of my adult life in St. Louis. As a photographer it took me years to come to grips with the Midwest. Boston and San Francisco were so much more visually interesting, or so I thought. How wrong I was. The Midwest - the Middlecountry - has many layers of subtlety, history, and tradition. It moves at an easy pace with a steady inner strength. Some years ago my wife Teresa and I began to take day trips to the farmlands and small towns of Southern Illinois and Missouri. Our favorite time was in Spring, when it seemed as though the land was exploding with life. Rivers everywhere rose. Most flooded, and life went on. Many times we drove down country roads until the water turned us back. As the years passed, in the land and in my life, I began to see the enduring wisdom of this culture and this landscape. Here are a few of our stops along the road. [Click on any image to open in new window, then navigate with L-R arrow keys.]