Starting with a random barn located in the hills of a far off state from a time so long ago can make for a bit of difficulty in finding information about it. I decided to begin by the most obvious; a barn in the Catskill region of New York. The Catskills are proclaimed to be “America’s first wilderness” because it is regarded as the origin of the conservation movement. As described, only one of the six Catskill counties are comprised of rolling hills like that of my picture, so it would be a decent wager to say the picture was likely taken in Sullivan County. In fact, saying the picture is of the Catskill region seems to be a bit of a misrepresentation. A true Catskill depiction would look more like this:
The Catskills make up a 6000 square mile area of New York which is about the same size as the state of Connecticut. It also contains about 36 summits over 3,500 feet. Using this information of a mountainous, higher elevation and cold area, I wouldn’t have thought it would be very ideal for farming, which may be the reason why the barn looks so decrepit. Another possibility could be the farm’s use for cattle rather than crops, which would make more sense. Apart from that, it would seem difficult to cultivate on such a hilly, uneven ground. The way there are no indications of typical farm equipment, or crop rows, could also lead me to believe that the barn is a holding place for animals more than equipment.
The second part of the information I was given circled around the time period. The photograph was taken in 1943. Of course, during that same time period, the United States and the rest of the world were in the heat of World War II. Possibly the most interesting part of my chosen photo is how the picture looks so serene and quiet in a time of such international turmoil and onslaught. Also, the Catskill Mountains were an area for World War II pilot training. Possibly, since the area where this picture is taken is one of the flattest and least mountainous in the area, it could be near where the airstrip was for the trainers to take off and land from. This could also be a possibility as to why the barn looks run down. With planes doing missions constantly in the area, it would be difficult to keep a herd of cattle under control. The rancher may have decided to move on since his cattle were not in a suitable environment, but at the same time, it’s tough to imagine the barn would have fallen to such disorder. Though there aren’t any signs of life in the picture as it is cropped here, but notice the grass still seems quite well kept.
Though the photograph leaves many questions unanswered while asking still more, having a background and a deeper realization of the meaning of the picture will surely help develop a clear purpose behind the the simple barn, hills and sky as random objects.
Bennett, Aaron. "The Catskill Mountain Region." 2005. The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. 1 Oct. 2009
Jordan, Jennifer. "The Catskill Park: As Unique as They Come." Unknown date. Catskill Farms. 1 Oct. 2009
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