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Leland Howard Fine Art Nature Images
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Old Holbrook Store in Chesterfield ghost town, south east Idaho, #g3
Chesterfield was one of the first Mormon settlements in Idaho. The old Holbrook general store underwent some technological changes as the gas pumping improved. About a year after I made this image a little renovation was done, the grass cut and watered, the debris was cleaned up and there were also a few other changes. To me this meant it lost a lot of its charm. Here's an interesting conundrum: when a ghost town has been preserved and the structures rebuilt, the place seems to loose some of its character, along with the obvious gain in preservation. We hate to see history lost but there's something special about weathered structures, particularly when they are discovered in the most remote areas—so far from anything we would call a town today. These are silent places, unless a gust of wind catches a creaking timber, or carries an echo of big dreams and intrepid spirits. Photographic images of Idaho's ghost towns are more evocative if the weeds, trees and brush haven't been cleared or groomed, and if the structures are leaning from years of wind or simply from age. When left undisturbed, these sites allow for a closer connection with the people who built them. There are no straightened walls or coats of paint to gloss over the relentless weather, or the passage of time. |
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