Photographer Steve Toole is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the project ‘Midwest Backroads’. To see Steve ’s body of work, click on any photograph.

“Midwest Backroads” is the title of a continuing project of my photos featuring the rural Midwest. The sparsely populated out-of-the-way settings of most of my photos are “well worn” like a pair of old blue jeans.

Living in Illinois, I am in the middle of the Midwest of the United States. This area, called The Heartland, is the agricultural center of America. Some of the most fertile soil anywhere in the world is here. Corn, soybeans, and wheat fill the fields, and cattle, hogs, and sheep are raised. Beneath a big sky, century old barns and farmhouses dot the flat landscape.

Many people imagine the idyllic farm scenes as including a barn, a two-story house, silos, white fences, windmills, and a variety of livestock and crops. Sadly, these are vanishing. Corporate agricultural companies have replaced countless small farms, dramatically reducing the number of family owned farm operations.

Many of my photos depict what remains of the nineteenth and twentieth century family farms and their surroundings. I am drawn to the subjects that harken back decades, but still exist as a reminder of a way of life that is fading. A combination of history and nostalgia inspires me to preserve an earlier time through photographic images. My choice of black and white images helps me to express a sense of timelessness.

Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, ends with the words, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference”. Traveling the back roads of the Midwest, I find those words ring true for me.

Steve is an award-winning photographer whose work has been exhibited internationally and featured in F-STOP and AAP magazines. He has enjoyed photography and art since he was young. As he was growing up, he was fortunate to have traveled with his family throughout the United States. Taking pictures during those trips was the impetus for his current photographic pursuits. Being retired from teaching, he now has time to rekindle his artistic pursuits. Much of his work depicts life outdoors where he spends a significant amount of his time. Steve has stated that he finds an artistic fulfillment in capturing the spirit of rural America through his photos.

Steve and his wife Kim live in Ashton, Illinois where they foster rescued dogs, volunteer, and enjoy small town life.

All images and text © Steve Toole