Outside of Wheelock, ND, probably west, is where this photo was taken. Shot from INSIDE an Amtrak "Empire Builder," at 60 miles an hour, this blur of an abandoned farm house might be my favorite photograph.
FARMHOUSE • Wheelock, North Dakota (1998)
Grey overcast clouds, treeless prairie - travel by foot or wagon would have been long and uninteresting. Facing foward in the train, I saw this house coming, fast. A mad scramble for the camera bag, unzipping, putting the lens on the body, turning on the camera, unscrewing the circular polarizing filter and lens cap, throwing them on the seat, clicking the shutter halfway to set the focus, pressing the shutter to take the picture. One shot at f 5.6, Kodachrome 64, with an unknown shutter speed.
In a science fiction future, this land may become filled with human activity, but here it exits, with its single deserted occupant.
