Schools Out Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Accross northeastern Montana and all accross the west are homes, farms and towns abandoned to neglect and the elements. This old school is one more example. The Nickwall school is the only structure left from what was once the community of Nickwall Montana. Here you can see the old school house standing tough against yet another cold day and blowing snow.

Accross the road is a graveyard where the pioneers and founders of the old town now rest. With the decline of the small family farms, so went the town. Some building simply decayed, others were torn down for the materials they contained, and remainder were destroyed by the new owners to make room for the plow or to eliminate opportunity for vandals and squatters.

afaust, dominique, hojper, Xalkida, anney has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

afaust (302) 2004-03-23 14:43

Excellent photograph. One can really feel the destitution of that area. The windblown snow adds to the feel. Great job!

Padre (59) 2004-03-23 15:20

That is a good photograph. I too can feel desolation and yet movement in the wind. Great job.

dominique (11403) 2004-03-23 15:32

I like this white, white house like snow, the soft colors are interesting like the composition. seen well.

hojper (2830) 2004-03-23 16:27

A very nice but sad note. Fits the photo perfectly. All white and blue, it looks almost arctic. Terrific atmosphere. I have no suggestions for improvement.

spence (1679) 2004-03-23 17:03

Absolutely beautiful in its simplicity. Your note is very interesting but sad - to some extent we see the same thing happening in parts of rural Australia, mainly due to drought and lack of employment opportunities for the young.

milloup (1829) 2004-03-23 17:17

The hazy, light blue sky makes this place look sooo cold and forlorn. The school building makes me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her books, although this is not the exact area. And the name Montana makes me think of my distant relatives - siblings of my g-grandmother - who left Denmark for Montana almost 100 years ago. Their descendants still live in Polson MT today. It's very likely that some of them have gone to school in a building like this ;-)

Xalkida (11740) 2004-06-21 18:17

Excellent job here! Very nice! Useful notes too!