While working on my book

[MichaelHarris]

about the farmers of the Palouse in eastern Washington I shot these two pictures:





For some reason it really brings home John Edwards two Americas. I know the old house is from the 30s but right below was a house very similar that a family is living in. I didn't shoot that out of respect for the family. More and more I see the older houses being occupied, these old homesteads are barely livable. An old friend of mine fell into the John Birch hole and wanted to separate from society with his family, he was so sure Democrats wanted his guns.

He found an old homestead like this and moved his family into it. Cold, drafty, and unsafe him, his wife and two children polish their guns, home school and watch Fox News waiting for the coming Apocalypse. It really is a shame. I'm not saying all of the families I see move into these homes are right-wing nuts, most move into them because it's a last chance at something called home. Maybe my next photo essay will document these families and their struggle.

Michael Harris

[Me.]

1. K & R n/t

[panader0]

2. When I was a young hippie

I loved finding places like that. They were cheap, often the owner would let you stay free if you replaced the windows and painted etc. I remember several in the $50 a month range in Eugene, Ore and Bisbee Az. I say great that people would use an old house. There's certainly no shortage of firewood in Wash.

[MichaelHarris]

4. I agree to some extent

but there is a difference when a rich family buys an old farmhouse and restores it and a family on it's last leg moves into one. Want and necessity are two very different beasts.

[annabanana]

3. Those are a couple of beautiful shots!

And, yes. I think they illustrate the "two Americas" theme quite well.

[MichaelHarris]

5. thank you anna

I'm torn, I keep thinking I may shoot the old farmhouse the family is living in. It's not very far at all from the big white one.

[Liberal In Texas]

6. Nice! Did you "enhance" that top one?

Good luck on the book.

[MichaelHarris]

9. Thank you, just

sharpness and curves in Photoshop, the color is all mother natures. The clouds in the second one just showed up. It was right before a small cold front. I see so many over-processed photographs these days, some so sharp my eyes almost bleed.

I still shoot about 60% film, paying gigs I shoot digital because everyone wants stuff so fast. We've become an "instant gratification" society. remember the anticipation when you dropped film off? Did I get keepers? Did I remember to take the lens cap off? Those days are easy to miss, I try and relive them at least once a day.

I like to tell people, you haven't lived until you shoot your first 4X5 color slide. That's something to behold, an image so big you can enlarge it to the size of a building.

[MedleyMisty]

7. I want your job

I also want your book. Absolutely beautiful pictures.

And I would love to see a photo essay on the families living in the old houses.

[MichaelHarris]

10. thank you sleebarker

I'll be sure to post it's availability here. Here's my big secret, a long time ago there were cameras that were almost impossible to own. They were mechanical wonders. No one wants them anymore, the want digital. Find you an old Leica IIIa or Yashicamat and start shooting. The Leica IIIa shoots 35mm film while the Yashicamat shoots 120 size film. You may even be able to find a Rolleicord for less than 100 dollars. It's a wonderful camera that has an amazing lens. The camera is the first step to inspiration.

[earthboundmisfit]

8. GREAT PIX !

The second one looks like it was once a schoolhouse... Gorgeous shots, beautiful country.

I hope you do the photo essay on the families - we're likely to see more and more of them as homes are lost and rents go out of sight. I can tell you from experience it's an awful feeling to have to tell your child that you no longer have a place to live... I'm one of the lucky ones, as things finally got better.

[MichaelHarris]

11. thank you earthboundmisfit

I know I may start a flame war, I hope that I don't but these so-called house flippers are really hurting lower income families when it comes to home buying. Quick cash is the new mantra.

I do believe it is a school house, in the area, say a 5 mile radius is 3 or 4 very old homesteads of the same period. One is being lived in, another has caved in. The other two are far off the dirt road behind fences. That seems to be about the right size schoolhouse for 3 or 4 families.

[Booster]

12. Both of these are breathtakingly beautiful. The first one doesn't

even look real, and I love the second one. Be sure and let us know when we can order your book. Nice job.

[MichaelHarris]

14. thank you spenbax

I will post more info about it here as it gets closer. I have some winter shots to take as well as some portraits and then I should be ready for submission.

[Cleita]

13. I've been up and down and across the palouse many times.

I remember those feathery clouds in the endless sky as my husband and I drove over and around those hills.

[MichaelHarris]

15. I've discovered the

roads that are no longer on maps. Two days ago I had to turn my GPS on to get home.

[Cleita]

17. You find that in the Northwest a lot, not only on the Palouse.n/t

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

16. If representing the two Americas, I'd crop the 1st to showcase the home in it.

They are both absolutely gorgeous shots!!!

I must say, I've seen more extremes of the "have" and "have-not" living in rural America, though.

Best of luck to you on your book!!!

[pitohui]

18. very nice photos mr. harris

i know what you mean about not photographing out of respect, i'm the same way

[bigtree]

19. We took a drive up into the Appalachians in the 80's

you could see right though some of the shacks.

Hard to believe anyone lived there . . . but they did