The High Plains region of western Kansas and Nebraska, Eastern Colorado, and the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles is not only “fly-over” country to those living on the coasts, it is also drive-through-as-fast-as-possible territory for those living in other parts of the Midwest and West.  It is the most remote area of what many people consider to be the most remote states in the country.  It is incredibly flat, virtually treeless, and very sparsely populated.  To me, it is home.

Having grown up here, and having returned after spending a decade away, I have always found a peculiar beauty in the place.  It is a subtle, meditative beauty that one must be willing to open oneself to- it is not a place where stimulation comes at you fast, to say the least.  I have always worked outdoors, and my current job takes me to the most isolated parts of the entire region.  It has always been a strange thrill to me, to be standing on an absolutely flat plane, with no sign of humanity in sight, especially on a cloudless day- brown or green earth below the horizon, deep blue sky and brilliant sun above.  It is like living in a giant, 360-degree, minimalist painting.  In this environment, any small detail becomes a major event.

I have never understood why those who find an Agnes Martin or Brice Marden painting engaging can find no interest in this landscape (as Donald Judd did, building his enormous installations directly to the south of here).  Environmental theorist Robert Mugerauer suggests that it is the behavioral goal of the traveler that most influences how they feel about less dramatic landscapes- they tend to be much less interested in them if they are trying to get something done somewhere else, than if they are at the place where the desired action is to be accomplished.  I suspect that cultural assumptions and limited culinary choices no doubt add to this.

I titled this series “elsewhere” not only because the entire region, to most people, is the absolute middle of nowhere, but because the photographs themselves give almost no information about where they might be.  They could be anywhere, or nowhere.

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