ABOUT THE PROJECT

Iowa is just one of many Midwestern states that the rest of the country considers a "fly-over state."  But, many don’t consider exactly what they're flying over.  One might not think that small, Iowa towns have much to offer.  In reality, they’re flying over businesses, homes, communities, schools, and so much more.  Small towns might appear to be dying to the untrained eye, but really, many of them have so much left to offer.

 

On November 16, 2019, I set out on my journey to photograph one small town of fewer than 1,000 people in each of Iowa's 99 counties.  I talked to locals about the current state of their town and how it's doing economically.  We also talked about community life and if people felt the town was thriving or failing.  In many cases, I found that when the industry in the community begins to fall due to residents traveling to bigger cities for ample options to suit their particular needs, yes, the small, family-owned businesses do have a hard time staying afloat.  Plus, when Mother Nature decides to try to eradicate the town, it’s also bad for business.  But, on the other hand, the feeling of your town "dying" brings a community of people together, because they want to keep their small community alive.  Whether it's a big business closing or a natural disaster, small-town people are willing to put everything down in an effort to come together and help.  It's all seems kind of backward, but it works.

 

One town, I will forever remember, after speaking with two local men.  They pointed down the road to a large building.  They told me that back in the day, the building used to be a dance hall, which on a Saturday night would be packed with well over 1,200 people who would come from other nearby towns to meet up.  This town alone now exists with a population of approximately 900.  People are proud of their smaller communities, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them flourishing.

 

Most small towns share similar qualities.  I noticed a lot of patterns along my journey.  If I had to combine the themes of all of the small, Iowa towns that I visited down into one small town, that one town would have three churches, one locally-owned grocery store, one restaurant-by-day with a Coca-Cola sign that doubles as the town bar-by-night, one gas station, a post office, a small city park, and usually one other specialty store, ranging from anything to a tire shop, to a taxidermy shop, to an antique shop, usually accompanied by one of those old, big, black, rectangular, arrow signs with the yellow blinking lights (usually not in operation, I might add).

 

It took me 22 days to shoot all 99 counties.  If I hadn’t lost (and then later found) my camera's SD card, it would have taken me 21 days.  Because of this little hiccup, I had to re-do one whole day of shooting.  I finished shooting my counties on March 18, 2020.  Possibly the most challenging part of this project was taking my photos during the winter months.  Having minimal hours of daylight led to only being able to photograph a few counties per day.  Though, this did create an interesting array of photos, depending on what winter weather had in store.  Some photos were taken during heavy snow, and others have green grass!  Navigating my classes and work around the project was a bit of a struggle at times, but the end product, plus the experience I obtained along the way has been extremely rewarding.

 

My goal as a photojournalist is to tell stories visually, through singular moments of time.  If I can provide a little glimpse of the current state of these small, Iowa towns for people to look back at in the future, I’ll feel like I’ve done my job.  I wanted to document these towns for the people who know and love them, as well as expand my own knowledge of the great state that I grew up in.  I’m no stranger to a small, Iowa community, having grown up in the country between several.  But now, I feel like I have a better understanding of the layout of the state and have had the privilege of visiting several other small communities that I may not otherwise have had a reason to visit.  This project has been rewarding in ways that are indescribable to me.  I will forever treasure this project and the experiences that I had along the way.