Michael P. Smith Fund For Documentary Photography 2014 Finalist Bryan Schutmaat Grays the Mountain Sends

Project Summary: This project combines portraits, landscapes, and still lifes in a series of photos that explores the lives of working people residing in small mountain towns and mining communities in the rural American West. This sparse yet immensely vast region is laden with history and labor heritage, and the reverberations of Manifest Destiny are still heard clearly to this day. Inspired by this history, as well as by the work of Western poet Richard Hugo and other regional writers, I’ve aimed to hint at narratives and relay the experiences of strangers met in settings that spur my own emotions, marking the intersection of documentation and poetry. This body of work is ultimately a meditation on small town life, the landscape, and more importantly, the inner landscapes of common men.

Congratulations to all of the Finalists in the 2014 Michael P. Smith Fund For Documentary Photography

All images © Bryan Schutmaat

www.bryanschutmaat.com