I've convinced myself that good pictures are everywhere around us. To prove the point, in late 2012 I set out to capture interesting, beautiful images of my daily commute to and from my place of employment in Nappanee, Indiana.
My usual route takes me across Elkhart County from north to south on County Road 9, a narrow two-lane strip of asphalt used primarily by the farmers and other local residents along its length. County Road 9 is lined with working farms of varying sizes raising beef cattle, dairy herds, soybeans, sorghum, garden vegetables, and corn.
Working farms aren't built to look good; they're made to get the job done, but in the process of building barns, silos, outbuildings, fences, fields and pastures, farmers create things of remarkable beauty.
The "beauty" of these farms integrates all the standard visual components that go into a good photograph, but they add aspects of functionality, hard work, tradition, and homespun values that enhance the visual statement.
Most mornings when I'm driving to work, the camera is on the seat beside me; settings set, battery charged and lens cap off; giving me no reasonable excuse to skip a shot I see. It's a bit of a personal challenge to continue the search for meaningful images on a route I use daily, but to this point I haven't come close to exhausting the photographic opportunities along the way.
Over time I have added images from rural locations not on County Road 9, but I've tried to retain the original premise in all of them.
Enjoy!
Paul Campbell
paulcampbell321@gmail.com