Iowa Panoramas

This is a series of panoramic photographs depicting the slowly vanishing rural culture of Iowa. Included in this concept are its often neglected and overlooked small towns and landscape; the uncertain relationships between the people, land, and farming industry; the paradoxical beauty of decay in Man’s creations; and issues regarding the tendency for its inhabitants to leave the towns and farms to seek opportunity elsewhere, contributing to the gradual transformation and loss of a once revered culture and lifestyle of America’s heartland.

These photographs are my personal, artistic portrait of Iowa, which I hope reveal both my love and concern for it. I strive for realistic images by avoiding a glamorizing or romanticizing approach, and I choose highly narrative subject matter and carefully compose the photographs to help create a balance between formal values and conceptual content. A panoramic format and large print size are used to convey the spaciousness of the scenes, to help draw the viewer into the image, and to show important details within the scene. To achieve high-quality results a special panoramic camera is used that shoots a seven-inch piece of film for each exposure. From this large transparency I make a high resolution scan, which I meticulously edit in Photoshop. The final 20x60 inch inkjet prints are made with archival fine art paper and inks for a museum-grade print. 

Wayne  Norton