I have always been attracted to this subject material. There is something about old barns and houses that provide a link to our past. The people are all gone, and what they left behind still tells their story. It was a time when everyone was "off the grid", when people were directly connected to the land and the seasons. I started photographing old buildings in 1978. Many of the images seen in this gallery have now disappeared, but represent a time and people who were driven to survive, and did so because of the resources of the land, their determination, and hard work.

Unlike many countries, most of our architecture in Michigan is less than 200 years old, whereas other cultures have buildings that are thousands of years old. Michigan did not become a state until 1837, and land grants started soon after. Still dotting the landscape are old homesteads that tell their story, if you listen.