Okefenokee Swamp 

"What will our country be like 100 years from now? Will there be wild horses, bison, bears, mountain lions...? Will there be vast tracts of undiscovered wilderness? Will there be such a thing as a small town? Will our descendants even care? These images from my travels around the United States are designed to inspire and stimulate viewers to cherish the world around them... in an effort to help ensure that our great-grandchildren get to experience the beauty and grandeur that is America.

Purpose

The Vanishing America Project shines a spotlight on the vignettes of America that today's generations know and love, but tomorrow's generations may never see. It is designed as a visual record to describe America as it stands today, in this 21st Century... barely 250 years old, but already depriving itself of its history.

The places and stories I photograph during my travels either have an uncertain future in our country, or have already succumbed to the March of Progress. I ask you to see the beauty in one image and the desperation in another, to project those feelings into your own world, and to imagine how you would feel if your beloved places or your own way of life suddenly... Vanished.

My goal is twofold: To show people what is in danger of disappearing, and to encourage them to take the time to look around their world and embrace what is important to them so that it is not forgotten.

What is the impetus behind The Vanishing America Project?

When I was a kid, growing up in rural Georgia, we used to ride our bikes through trails in the woods, crossing creeks, ponds, and pastures, on our way to Stovall’s Grocery – a tiny little market on the other side of town. Mrs. Stovall would greet our smiling, dirt-streaked faces with a sweet “howdy boys!” as we plunged our heads into the drink cooler to cool off and grab something to moisten our parched throats. (Often, after pooling together all our change, we’d find out we didn’t have enough to get a drink for everyone, but Mrs. Stovall was there for us. She always made up the difference if we were a little short.)

One day, on the way to Stovall’s, as we were racing each other through the trails, we turned a tight corner and almost ran right into a bulldozer blocking our way. On the other side of that big hulking yellow machine was our trail. Or, I should say, “used to be” our trail. For as far as we could see, a wide swath of destruction had been cut through our woods (Our Woods!), leaving behind twisted tree trunks, shredded branches and a nasty dark dirt that burned our noses with the smell of acrid tree sap, oil, and diesel fuel.

We had just been exposed to the real world. And, because our trails were being turned into subdivisions, and we could no longer ride our bikes through those woods, we reluctantly traded our two wheelers in for something with four wheels and joined the world of grownups.

And we weren’t the only ones who felt the sting of progress... Not long after that neighborhood went up, more neighborhoods went up, along with big grocery stores, strip malls, and a widened highway. And Mrs. Stovall, realizing that she couldn’t compete with the new shopping centers, flipped over the “Sorry, we’re closed” sign on her window and said “goodbye” to our beloved market.

To us kids, those trails and Mrs. Stovall's Grocery were special places where we could play and put off growing up for a few more years. And, it’s those special places that we all cherish that are in danger of disappearing forever. It’s only a matter of time. And, it’s the disappearance of those places that inspired me to shoot the vanishing landscapes, wild animals, historic architecture, small towns and ways of life before they, too, are gone forever.

This project isn't meant to "save the world" or stop progress. It is simply meant to show people what is out there, and what is happening to our country, so that they can make educated and impassioned decisions about the world in which we live.

If my images can inspire people to take notice of and appreciate the world around them, then The Vanishing America Project is a success. So few of us actually see and feel the places and things that make our country so special. We're too busy with work, kids, and making ends meet that we never take the time to get to know the country we call home. As my cousin, Joanne, once said about my image of the Okefenokee Swamp: "I never even knew places like this existed!"

We live in a beautiful place. And, if I can open people's eyes to the world that surrounds them, then we will have a better chance of preserving it for future generations.