As I traveled around north Florida and southern Georgia this past winter I’d stop whenever I found an interesting building that looked worn down or abandoned. There’s something about them that begs to be photographed. I’m careful to shoot from the perimeter of the property, and even then it’s a tenuous game at times as a landowner occasionally takes exception, but not often.

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This is beautiful old home is fortunately being restored. 

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Old cabin near Gore’s Landing

.The following houses were mostly abandoned, and I shot them when I went to paddle the Suwannee River up in Fargo, GA. The town certainly seems to have been struggling in recent years. 

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..The color of the flowers caught my eye at this abandoned house and I wanted to capture the entire yard. 

When suddenly, through the viewfinder, I saw a shadowy figure appear in the doorway. My initial thought was, “this is perfect,” but that was mixed when I saw how big Johnny was. He also had only one eye. I grew up when the film Deliverance was popular, and I’ve got to admit some stereotypes started to form. Should I make a quick apology and run? haha. Actually, me and Johnny had a good talk on the porch and I thanked him for letting me make his photograph. It was classic. Big Johnny was a nice man. ..