Telling the Story of Your Town

A problem photographers sometimes have is finding something to shoot.  I mean, if you can’t afford to fly to Thailand, Bali, Argentina or France to get the shots you want, why bother, right? 

But there are opportunities around you, you just have to look for them.  Since I don’t do portrait photography, I looked around my little military town to tell a story.  One of the most obvious stories here in southern Georgia is the economy.  Frankly, it sucks, and there are signs all around of the casualties the economy has taken. 

In Georgia, the unemployment rate is a full percentage point over the national average. We’re talking in the mid 9%’s. With underemployment, it’s well above double digits.  So I decided to snap a few shots of some of the businesses that have gone under in the last year on one particular road.  This is what I found:

While docu-photos or photojournalism of this kind may not win you any awards, they do help you hone your skills while you tell the untold tale of your little town.  So what’s your story?