Documenting - American Wasteland - Farmland

Old farmhouses have always held an appeal to me. Perhaps it was the time I spent on the farm my grandparents owned in Wisconsin, perhaps it was just the way they looked or the energy that still lived in their walls and around the property. Farms carry a history of our country, and yes I have a fondness for the farms of the heartland.

At most of the abandoned places I find, I never enter. I take images of the outside, detail shots, perhaps a few through a cool looking window, but I have only entered a couple. I will tell you quickly that it is because I have respect for the property, for the people who own it, and the spirits/energy that remains, and it is true. However I am a big chicken, lol, I am sure that topic will come up many times during my travels. I figure being scared keeps me safe, right?

On the rare occasion that I have someone with me and the permission to go in and take some images I do. These images are all from one home on a farm in Minnesota. The family had lived in the house for years and once it became clear the home was not livable anymore, the family built a new home and left this one to stand in the elements. Many belongings still sitting in the same place as the day the family relocated.

The cost to remove these old homes is high in most cases. You can’t just knock it down and load the stuff in the dumpster. Many of these old homes were built with things like lead, asbestos, and other items we now know are dangerous to humans and other live organisms. So these homes sit open to the surrounding elements and often vandals who just set out to destroy. In the midwest, they sit till rot and wind finally win out and they become a pile of sticks on the property, just barely recognizable.