the dailypic 6138 yr17 294 Lebanon Bound

The Middle Ground trip is going to have a part two.

On June 23rd, six days into the trip, I stopped in Lebanon, Kansas. It was a stop with two parts. The first part I posted about earlier: the marker for the geographical center of the contiguous United States. The second part I had saved until now: the town itself and the people. Lebanon is a rural town in Smith County, Kansas, with a population of about 180, sitting just two and a half miles from the center marker.

A stop of a few hours became a true highlight of the trip. I started by roaming around the small, tight-knit community, eventually venturing into the main store in town to start talking to people. I met employees and townspeople who were all happy to share information about the area, which led to meeting even more locals. I took some portraits, visited some houses and had some great conversations.

One of my favorites was with this gentleman. I watched him drive back and forth through town a few times, so I approached him to talk about his car, a 1976 Chevy Malibu, according to him mileage unknown. Even though it has seen better days, it was impressive and reminded me of a car my grandfather had. He allowed me to take this photo as he sat in front of his house.

Later, that moment inspired what comes next. I am heading back to Lebanon in a few weeks. About ten years ago, I had a project called We Are Medway, where I photographed somewhere around 2,000 people and collected their stories. I have always wanted to do something like that again. While driving through Kansas, the thought hit me, Lebanon is perfect for this.

I reached out to some of the people I met there, they liked the idea, which led to connecting with city officials. They took my proposal to the town council, and it was officially approved yesterday. At the end of August, I will be flying back for a few days to take environmental portraits of the people who make up the center of our country. It feels like the perfect bookend to The Middle Ground project, collecting and celebrating the folks in the middle of the country during its 250th year.

This will become a book that will sit at the center of all the photos from my trip, now the planning starts for my return to the Middle.

tr/trp