RurEx and the Art of Creative Trespass

UrbEx, or urban exploration, is the hottest of hot photography trends at the moment, it seems, if one can judge by what art directors are selecting as upper-tier stock or by popularity on crowd-sourced sites. I have to admit, I love them myself. Personally, I love an old empty building, love sifting through the debris left behind, love to watch the succession of nature over architecture. My biggest gripe was that you can't do UrbEx if you're not urban.

RurEx, as a term, is much less popular, less well-understood, and that may be due in large part to a long existence under other names. Sometimes known as "barn-hunting," "old-housing," or, as I've heard somewhat derogatorily, "junking," RurEx is the exploration of small towns and rural areas, houses, barns, and business districts, often abandaned.

Lest ye think that I'm jumping aboard this train at the height of its popularity, I feel I must mention that I've been an old-houser almost since birth. On my father's farm still stood several old homestead sites, complete with limestone and framed houses, cellars, outbuildings, even one with a wine cellar. This last, I considered so enchanting, the house so lovely, and the setting so idyllic that I dubbed it with the highest of all honors, calling it "The House at Pooh Corner." Give me a break, I was three.

Anyway... back then no one really cared if you were poking around in their old houses, and hell, we lived so far in the middle of nowhere that who was gonna catch us anyway? Now, I worry about it just a bit more. Police and landowners alike watch for trespassers because of the rural meth explosion; liability and litigiousness scare farmers perhaps even more. However, it's just not all that practical to go poking around for landowners when you see that beautiful old barn or the burnt-out house.

I'm not going to try to defend my propensity toward trespassing; I know it's naughty and fully expect, every time I partake, to get a warning, a ticket, or handcuffed. That's a risk I'll take. One, because I can run fast enough if I have to, and two, because I've found that a confident bearing keeps people from questioning if you really belong in there.

So, without further ado, here are a few of my RurEx shots. Remember that you can buy prints or send free eCards of these, and be sure to check out my Etsy store. I sell groupings of shots there (some from the blog, some not), so if you want a group of 9 or 16 prints to put on your wall, it's more economical to do it that way.

2nd Annual Fairbury, Nebraska Bull Bash

How excited was I to find out that the Bull Bash was coming back to Fairbury? Very!! I missed it last year and was anxious to test out a new lens on some rodeo action. (The Tamron 300mm did not disappoint.) Thank you to the organizers, the fans who came out, but most of all to the riders who put on a great show. I had bulls right up in my lens. Contestant photos (of the bulls and the kids' mutton bustin') will be up in a day or two and available for print or download.

Holiday Portraits, Part Deux

Spent about 12 hours today decorating and lighting for the holiday portrait sessions today with Tammy Cleary at TLC Creations. I am BEAT! But things are looking gorgeous!!! Santa's Workshop was twinkling and cozy when I left tonight, my camera batteries are charging, my cards are cleaned off, I still have to design order forms . . . but it looks like our Santa visit will be beautiful! I will post pictures of our decorating the day after -- we want it to be a surprise when everyone comes in!! After the Santa photos, we've planned a swift switch-out from Santa's workshop to a festive country scene -- mason jar luminaries, sophisticated color palette, lots of candles, beautiful presents, sumptuous textiles -- for our Saturday holiday photos.

We're also doing PET PHOTOS!!!! I'm beyond excited for that!! Even though I know someone will crap on the rug!

Remember, bring a non-perishable food donation for a free 5x7 portrait, and photo packages have super-low holiday prices, starting at $10 and up!!

Upcoming Events

So my friends over at TLC Creations, the wedding planner & party store, are getting ready to celebrate their first year in business. First off, that's a huge accomplishment, so congratulations to Tammy and Mike!

By way of celebration, they're having a little pre-Christmas party at the store. Friday, December 3rd, Santa will be dropping by at 6pm for pictures. Receive a FREE 5x7 of you and Santa with any food donation!

But, be sure to come back on Saturday, when Tammy will host her 1st Anniversary party. I'll be there taking drop-in holiday portraits. We have some lovely stuff planned for that, and there's still time to get your pictures back before the holidays! Contact me for package pricing!

Little Town

One thing that always inspires me to get out both the pen and the camera is a little town. I find myself there quite a bit -- when I forget to put gas in the car before leaving town, if I have a flat tire, when I'm on one of my never-ending quests to find the shortest distance between two places (tangent: ever read "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"? A great story, and one that gives me pause as I'm wandering backroads).

Anyway, there's something beautiful and sad about these towns. Whether it's Leonardville or Green or Jamestown or Dorchester or Friend or Oketo or Walnut or Glasco or Herkimer or Keats, you can see what the town once was, even as it stands slowly crumbling, like beautiful bones beneath a scarred face. They all feel a little bit the same, almost like being home again; the sidewalks feel familiar, even when they aren't. The same broken paned windows, the same grocery store Safe-Way signs, the same pigweed growing up at the curb of the uncleaned street. At the same time, it feels unreal, like walking onto the set of Hoosiers.

Here are some shots from recent small town wanderings. Certainly there will be more.

Excerpt - "I'm Caught Doing it Again and Have to Explain"

There is something about a field of wheat that is irresistible to me. It isn't the sight of it, weaving and swaying under the south wind in June, just starting to turn gold. And it isn't just the whisper it makes, each head leaned in and conspiring with the next, like a 160-acre game of Telephone. It isn't that dusty smell that the chaff has in July or the damp fecundity of spring rows.

This is a case where the sum is truly more than the parts. Wheat is ever-present in my memories of childhood -- sleeping in the back window of the combine during harvest at age 3, awakening to watch the wheat pile higher and higher in the hopper window; taking a small handful of wheat and chewing, chewing, chewing, until it made a kind of gluten gum; breaking off the stalk for an impromptu straw for my Grape Ne-Hi; counting germinated seed wheat that my father unrolled from an old t-shirt rag while a blizzard raged outside; learning to work the fields and plant, as soon as my legs were long enough to push the tractor clutch.

Roadside wheat fields always were and remain synced to my internal calendar. I miss the smell of the soil and the intimacy that I once had with our farm. Part of me wants it back; part of me wonders if its possible to recover. But the memories of it never seem to fade. And that's what this poem is about.

Excerpt from "I'm Caught Doing It Again and Have to Explain"

...sometimes I find myself at Tractor Supply, almost
like sleep-walking, and I realize I'm running my fingers down
the stacks of the starched denim Big Smith and Key overalls.
That's the kind my dad wore, and don't laugh
but I have a pair in the bottom drawer, size 42, huge,
I found them at Goodwill and couldn't leave them.
They still had some alfalfa chaff in the top pocket lint.
That's like a metaphor, right? You can take those overalls,
wash them, dry them, fold them up and take them to town,
they've still got hay in the pockets, you know?
You get it? Hay in the pockets.

Wedding Photos

It's that time of year! Everyone's getting married (and we're taking their pictures!)