Anchored in the American South, A Palette of Rust and Dreams is a vignette of a train journey that documents the people and communities touched by the railroad. These photographs depict travelers and railroad workers bearing witness to a world and landscape both ephemeral and historic.
Through portraiture and environmental landscapes this work addresses themes of home, belonging, loneliness and uncertainty as it explores quiet moments illuminating emotional truths. I wanted to capture the vulnerability of this uncertainty and changing landscape with intimate, closely shot portraits.
Winding through towns, behind buildings and across fields – I am struck by the train’s intimate perspective. I have always been drawn to them. I feel as though every town I pass through and every landscape that I perceive is a place that I might belong. The lonesome sounds of the train whistle evokes such a longing kind of feeling deep inside, taking me to the outskirts of my own world, causing me to dream of what has been, what lies ahead, what lies beyond. All at once this world belongs to me, to you and to no one.