OLD BARNS № 026 & 027

Deep in the rural heart of farming country in Anderson County, SC, are two lovely barns on a single piece of property. One is red with white trim, the other is white with red trim, and they make a lovely pairing! There is a small shed in front of the white barn that is also in-keeping with the red-and-white theme.

As with other barns I've photographed, there were challenges. The barns are situated quite a distance from the road and I had to position myself carefully between trees to get the shot. The screen capture at right shows where I was (at the white dot on the road) and the line-of-sight to both of the barns in the photo.

The only way to have gotten a better shot (besides obtaining better equipment made for telephoto shots) would have been to ask permission of the land owners to traipse across their property to get closer to the barns.

I find that undesirable for several reasons. First, people in this area are conservative-minded folk, so they are mistrustful of strangers and dealing with such can be quite a challenge, especially for [what they consider] a lowly woman (a man would be taken more seriously). Second, I've had social anxiety since my husband passed, and dealing with people I don't know can be disturbing to me, even if they are pleasant. Third, trying to catch them home at a time when I am available could be troublesome. Most of my barn photos were shot during the years I was care-giving for my elderly parents, so there wasn't much flexible time for non-necessary things. Fourth, I have over 300 barns in my Old Barn Project now, and coordinating permission to photograph each one would be a terribly time-consuming task, so I think shooting-and-running is better. Fifth, there would be so many questions: –Why do you want to photograph our barn? –What is so special about our barn? –What are you going to do with the photos? –Will they be online, in a book, or hung in a gallery? –Who will be seeing the photos? –Will you be making any money from this? –Will I get any money for this? etc.

I really like it much better when the barns are closer to the road. Old barns are iconic symbols of a "simple life," so it is fitting (in my mind) that my efforts to capture these beauties remain simple, too, even if they don't earn me a blue ribbon at a photography exhibition.