This trip was the last one I took. I had tried to do most work when it was cold to reduce the chance of me running into wildlife. So, right before temperatures rose, on a random Thursday, I left school and loaded up the jeep with everything I could think might be useful. I drove out to Carthage Tennessee to catch the last couple of hours of daylight. All I knew was that my parents' law school friend owned some farm property with old houses. I was entirely unprepared for what I was walking into. Before this, I had been in countless rooms full of shattered glass, toppled old furniture, and tattered walls, but this farm town resembled an apocalyptic movie. These houses were far off-road (yay 4-wheel drive) so they were practically untouched by vandalism. They had windows, doors, and stairs that I actually felt somewhat safe going up. Everything was left behind. Couches, bed frames, TVs, and other personal belongings filled these houses. It was as if the owners just got up and left one night. After the houses, I visited the abandoned school. The hallways were still decorated for the kids and the tile was intact. It could have been argued that the entire town's population had randomly disappeared.

This project turned out to have so many film prints that I gave up on naming them all, organizing them into named series instead. However, these images, inspiring the name "Southern Skeletons", show such a special tie to humanity. I felt as if I had to name some of them in honor of the mysterious people who lived in them so long ago.