Please click on the thumbnails below to view the image gallery.
Independents, Locally Owned, Small Town, Corner Store, Family Owned, The Little Man
These are all terms used to describe a fading and disappearing breed of entrepreneurial spirit. Many of these cherished businesses have gradually evaporated, shutting their doors for a variety of reasons, including highway bypasses that divert traffic, declines in local population, lack of succession planning, and owners retiring without successors.
Nonetheless, each one brings back a profound and heartfelt sense of nostalgia to the patrons who once regularly visited these unique locations. Recalling the penny candy, racks filled with magazines, the distinctive ‘ding’ of the gas pump bell, creaky wooden floors, and other familiar sounds and smells—these are experiences that newer generations will likely never grow to appreciate firsthand.
In this growing collection, I strive to capture and preserve that lost spirit, portraying both the businesses that have vanished, now leaving behind only a shell or memory of what once was, and those that continue to survive and thrive, adapting gracefully to the current longing for the warmth and authenticity of past experiences.
I decided to produce these images in Black & White, to create a more ‘timeless’ feel to them. All images are available in print. Some available in colour as well as black & white.
The title of this project was inspired from the song by Alan Jackson, “The Little Man”. If you listen to the song, you’ll understand why I started this project.
