I am by vocation a Professor of English at South Carolina State University.  My interest in photography began when I lectured in universities in mainland China (1981-‘85) and wished to record the country’s landscape and cities. This interest was reinforced when I spent a semester at the Camargo Foundation, a research institute in southern France. With a new Nikon, I was fascinated by the region’s geological formations, vineyards and other agricultural features, and crumbling architecture. Returning to South Carolina and moving on to medium-format, I discovered that rural areas in central South Carolina also offer exquisite photographic opportunities. Long an agricultural hub, this region is filled with impressive houses, barns, sheds, and tiny shacks. In many cases, despite the casual origins of many of the structures just mentioned, the skilled workmanship is obvious. Frequently, the lumber has been unevenly cut yet beautifully crafted. Intriguing patterns of color and texture appear because paint residues, interspersed with patches of fungi, are streaked across expanses of bare but multi-toned wood. Then there are the metal roofs with their radiant rust. Mediated by the time of day, the season, and other factors, each ensemble takes on many appearances that I have endeavored to capture and exploit photographically.