Weathered Prairie Barn – Americana Collection
Windy conditions are not unusual in the American Midwest. As it happens, today there is a NWS High Wind Warning for winds steady out of the southwest at 25mph with gusts over 55mph in Stone Bluff, Indiana. Any structure, including this weathered barn with rusted roof in Fountain County is subject to additional stress on days like today.
Weathered Prairie Barn – Americana Collection
What do you as a viewer see in this photograph?
What do the missing sections of the rusted roof and exposed rafters tell you?
What does the scrub brush growing at the end of the barn indicate?
Regarding the overall structure, does the weathered wood siding mean anything?
Why pick this specific barn to photograph?
As a documentary photographer, my resonsibility to you as a viewer is to present the scene and allow you to formulate a narrative from this visual presentation. If you merely glance and the photograph and do not allow the necessary time to compile the story, you are missing the many messages embedded within the image.
You, as a viewer, will interpret the image according to your personal experiences and references and prejudices. However, it requires effort to become a refined viewer.
Now, do yourself a favor and take a few more moments. Review this photograph. Then, describe to yourself what you see.
What information is available now that you overlooked before?
Weathered Prairie Barn – Americana Collection
With nothing to brunt the air currents as they tumble from the Rocky Mountains and across the plains, barns with wind-blown rusting roofs are a common feature of heartland America.
