2013 Photo Challenge: February

In case you missed it, in January I participated in a photo challenge/contest over at Jessica Drossin's Textures. She is hosting a new challenge each month, and the theme for February is L.O.V.E., specifically the love of your art. Well. As I sat and thought about the love of MY art and why I love photography as well as journalistic writing, I decided that my love is driven by the desire tell the story of human history. Life is so fleeting. Billions of people have lived on this earth and the majority of them are unknown by anyone living today. I love history, especially historical photography. I love to picture how life looked in different places and times. So for this month's challenge I have chosen to photograph something that is iconic of the place and time in which I live; something that will give future generations a picture of what life was life in Elkhart, Indiana, 2013. The town I've lived in for the past ten years was one of the first and hardest hit by the recession that America is now crawling out of. Around 2008-09, it seemed that every week I learned of another friend or loved one who had lost his or her job. Stories were all over the local news of families losing their homes and small businesses closing their doors because they had lost income and couldn't pay their bills. Unemployment in the city of Elkhart reached 20%. At the end of 2009 my own husband lost his job, and spent a year unemployed. We know firsthand the effects of the recession.

Within the past year I have seen more and more "Help Wanted" signs popping up around town, and to me, it is a symbol of a new era for this town, and hopefully for the nation. It means that businesses have money to hire more employees. It means that there are jobs available for unemployed people. It sounds weird, but whenever I see a "Help Wanted" sign, my heart fills with relief and hope. But still... it's a long climb out of the pit we have fallen into. There are abandoned buildings with boarded up windows all over town. Small businesses are still struggling, though many are hanging on. Many foreclosed homes were never purchased, and "For Sale" signs have been hanging in front yards for years. Many homes weren't lost but owners couldn't afford to keep them up (like mine) so they look rough. I had a hard time choosing which of these photos to submit. The lingering effects of economic struggle? Or hope for the future? I chose hope.