At Home in the American Midwest

There is a certain magic to the American Midwest. Honest. Modest. Understated. Sometimes unappreciated. Often overlooked. It is a special place that in many ways captures the true essence of the American heartland. These images express what I think of when I think of "home" and the American Midwest in which I was born and raised. I think of the Midwest as being classic and timeless in nature. Therefore, I approached this project from a time-honored “straight photography” perspective in the spirit of Group f/64 and gave the work a modernist character with a strong formalist dimension. My approach was informed by the work of mid-century modernist photographers such as Adams, Weston, White, Strand and Evans. My work was also strongly influenced by the American Regionalism movement and the work of artists who portrayed the American heartland, including Wood, Benton, Curry, Wyeth and Hopper. If you pause for just a moment, perhaps you will feel the humid air of an approaching thunderstorm, see the warmth of late afternoon light or catch the smell of fresh laundry drying in the summer breeze. Welcome home.