Lineville Again

As the name implies, Lineville, Iowa sits on the border of Missouri and Iowa.  I've posted a photo from this town on the blog back in March or April.  The post office I posted sits just to the left of this group of buildings.  I think that if you printed out the two photos, got a pair of scissors and a straightedge you could probably seamlessly connect the two images to create a panorama of downtown Lineville.  The scale might be a little off, but I was doing my best.  Once again, I found myself fascinated with the brick architecture that the average midwesterner drives by every day and ignores.  And of course, the interaction between the aged, detailed, patina-rich brickwork and the bright, empty negative space of the sky above is also a visual beguilement.  To me, at least.

Ladora, Iowa

Ladora, Iowa on a windy, cold night in early December.  Driving back from my trip to see the David Plowden photography exhibit up in West Branch, I decided to take Highway 6 from the Amana colonies to Highway 21, which I then took south to Ottumwa.  Both highways were full of the very types of towns and objects that I enjoy photographing.  In fact, Ladora had been photographed by Plowden some 25-30 years earlier, as one of the prints in the exhibit had testified.  This is a view of the main street, with an auto repair shop in the foreground, charmingly advertised by a quaint neon sign, and an old high school building in the background, now apparently serving as a bistro.