Paul Simon has a song called "My Little Town", whose refrain goes something like this: "Nothing but the dead of night in my little town." A requiem for the once economically viable and sustainable American small town. This post-Hopperesque scene was photographed in the small town of What Cheer, Iowa, on highway 21, during a road trip back in early December. I hope it doesn't seem completely hopeless, though. Otherwise I would have cropped the Christmas decoration out of the composition. I like it in there as a positive and somewhat ironic counterpoint to the defunct clothing store.
