21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Artistic
Into the Valley

This image is part of an ongoing series. 'Lost America' examines a quiet stillness in a forgotten landscape that is, in a sense: ‘on-pause’. Backwater towns, rural corners and landscape wastelands are juxtaposed with the ambiguity of a detached dimension. Places appear frozen in time, their inhabitants absent or long since departed. Ardently stagnant in appearance, the images aim to unlock a moment of reflective contemplation and instil a melancholic feeling of familiarity. One might not acknowledge these spaces when viewed within the vast stretch of America’s panorama. Yet, when framed as a single vignette, the places can appear to echo a moment of mournful reverie.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: N/A, Nevada, United States of America
Copyright: © Matthew Portch