"Home for the Holidays"

As nature takes a breath on a cold winter morn, an icy breeze salted with a pinch of snow swirls through an empty window. Stripped of its mantel, an old fireplace hasn't seen the home fires burn for what seems like an eternity. Where homade toys once resided with the sound of wooden wheels and glass marbles resonating under bead board ceilings , now only dust and debris populate the once meticulously swept pine floors. Standing among the lifeless ruins with exhaled breath dissipating into the frigid air, it's hard to imagine the warmth these textured walls once enjoyed. Yet with the closing of one's eyes, the spirit of Christmases past begin to slowly reveal themselves and for a cherished brief moment, this stranger feels like a welcomed guest once more, blessed to be

"Home for the Holidays." (2014)

***************************************************

 

Home for the HolidaysHome for the Holidays

 

 

Photographer's Notes

I always wanted to create a visual representation of what I try to imagine in my minds eye when I visit forsaken homesteads such as this old Warren County, NC farmhouse. Through some post production magic I was able the breath some Christmas Spirit back into this once proud home by placing a old fashioned Christmas Tree in the corner of the room complete with two excited young children helping decorate for the holidays. This isn't about seeing ghosts, rather I felt the project was important in that it reminds folks that these old relics of the past, considered by most as a bane of societal existence, were at one time alive with holiday spirit cherished by the long departed souls that called them.....home!

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Scott