Overnight Auburn, Alabama

I surveyed the town of Auburn last night, driving through at a snail's pace. The town & campus were thronged with football fans, fields full of tailgating motorhomes and trucks, streets closed for a parade. When I settled in for the night, the de ja vu that was building since I caught that bug in Macon - driving, stopping and jumping out of the car to take photographs when compelling images present themselves - came full circle as I sat on the cheesy flower-patterned bedspread with my map and books. I used to do this very often, seven years ago in Virginia. It was a weekly schedule as I was making the book, documenting small towns that boomed and bust, or quietly settled into a weathering stasis when resources, transportation routes, and citizens ceased to support its growth. de ja vu. I still have that passion. I "enjoyed" breakfast at the Waffle House with a huge grin this morning, eager to drive, stop, jump, run, photograph all day across rural Alabama and Mississippi, with a focus on the Rural Studio.