Ascendant - handcrafted stairwell in the abandoned Torgerson farm homestead Canvas Print

This staircase to second level in the Torgerson homestead (circa 1900) is unique - very very narrow/difficult to climb/descend due to the narrowness and encroaching ceiling, but it was obviously built with care and attention to detail. I have greatly enjoyed photographing at this picturesque abandoned farmsite/homestead location on the shores of Lake Ibsen a few times now, and it seems the sky is always very moody when I'm there, which kind of suits the scene. I love the architecture of this very small, but still distinguished home - the "L" shape floor plan, the very steep roof pitch (maybe Nordic settlers who knew a bit about snow loading?), the little ornamental siding details in the roof-wall sections. This time I noticed, for the first time, a very large diameter (about 6') hand-dug and cement-lined well. I am very careful when I explore/photograph these types of places, as just last year, a Saskatchewan photographer perished by falling into one. One of these years,...

Peter Herman was born and raised on a farm in North Dakota. He first became interested in photography during high-school, and after acquiring a Pentax SLR, began taking photos for the school yearbook and developing/printing B&W images in school darkroom. He continued shooting through college, taking portraits, group pictures, weddings, but after beginning his engineering career at Cummins, he let his photography interests go dormant until about 2005 when he acquired his first DSLR and started shooting scenic landscapes from around the US, but concentrating especially on rural areas in ND and WI. Many of his images were encountered while riding motorcycle down random backroads during "golden hour", searching for that magic light...