In July 2014 my wife, me, my wife’s best friend and her husband were driving around Wisconsin looking for things to photograph by walking into the past. Along the way we saw this beautiful barn sitting over the trees just off the main road.
We looked for a while on how to access this barn so I could take a photograph. Eventually we found a dirt road that we went down, but we could only go so far because they blocked off cars. So I got out of the car and walked down the path.
Eventually the path came to a dead end. I could see the barn just over this meadow but I had to walk through some pretty tall grass to get to it. That kind of thing never stopped me before so I started to push through the grass.
As I walked up this hill, the trees on my left started to fade behind me; that’s when I saw this little gem. It’s an abandoned turn of the century farm house. The creep factor is all there because the location made you feel like you were walking into the same path as a horror movie; you just waited for someone to jump out of the woods and slash you into pieces.
When I got to the top of the hill all I could concentrate on was this house. The barn across the field became a distant memory. I was completely engulfed on this house.
I sat and watched the breeze blow through the overgrown grass which actually started to look like wheat. The windows were blown out and there was a cool looking tree in the front yard. The quieter I sat the more I could hear the stories this house was telling.
I could hear children playing under that old tree. I could hear mom calling for her kids. I could see the father, rough yet loving, get up and work those fields everyday from dawn to dusk. I could see family gatherings and barnyard parties. The stories are haunting but beautiful. I was actually choked up a bit.
This house had to be photographed so I did just that. What you see is the results and what’s even more amazing – just looking at the photo you will be able to hear those exact stories too if you are quiet enough and listen hard.
That’s what intrigues me about urban decay, it’s one reason I love using it whenever possible in my photos because it will always tell a story. Sometimes you have to look beyond the ugly to see the beauty within.
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