The largest building in this street scene dates from 1911. Except for the microwave tower standing behind it, and the cars on the street in front of it, everything else in the photo also dates from the early to mid-twentieth century. We look backwards, not forwards here in Shoshone, a small Idaho town between Twin Falls and Sun Valley that is typical of rural towns in the American West whose time has passed. I converted this image to black and white to underscore the grim mood of this image and simplify its structure.

By removing all color, the image becomes stark and unforgiving. The black and white format also simplifies the composition, which contrasts the verticality of the telephone pole and the varying heights of the structures along the street, to the horizontal bands that sweep across the frame: alternating black sky, gray sky, white sky, more gray sky, phone wires, the row of buildings, train tracks, and the dirt foreground.