Cody Redmon - Photoblog

In preparation for the new site launch, I decided to post an image which plays on a far more dramatic, yet parallel theme. This old homestead in the Shields Valley is now just a home the wind, drift-builder of broken dreams…until the fencers showed up. Seeing the bright, fresh-cut wood of the foreground against the patina of time behind, it portrays the story of my geography and its keepers. I am an admirer of the ‘Old West’, the themes which go along with it and the memories which haunt the trails of my exploration. I am also a supporter of the ‘New West’, the agriculture which sustains it and the humble nature it breeds in man. When I finally found a rancher to pull us out of the ditch the next morning after this photo was taken, he offered his help without hesitation or condition. As we drove back to my car he pointed out property after property, noting families who had been bought out by the “land rich” or were too proud to sell, but couldn’t afford to stay on their spread any longer and had moved to town. Back at my car, he accomplished in less than a minute what I’d spent 5 hours attempting the night before. When we offered him money for his efforts, he kindly said, “No, but thank you. If I can’t be a good neighbor, then what am I good for?” You don’t find folks like that in too many places these days…