Vanish - Disappearing Icons of a Rural America

Vanish chronicles the “visual preservation” adventures of fine art photographer, Jim Westphalen, as he travels across the country seeking out and creating stunning imagery of America’s disappearing rural structures. Equal parts art, history and seat of the pants storm chasing, road-trip with Westphalen as he races against time and the unrelenting elements to capture the extraordinary beauty of aging barns, one room schoolhouses, grain elevators, prairie churches and all the classic structures that our country’s rural heritage was built upon. Though many of these evocative relics will eventually surrender to the elements, our film captures firsthand the passionate people who strive and struggle to save these gems, revealing stories of dreams, loss and hope.

Jim’s Bio

Largely self taught and working as a successful commercial photographer for decades, Jim Westphalen now devotes his time fully to his fine art . His evocative large scale photographs are collected world wide and exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States. His style compared to such painters as Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper and Eric Sloane, Jim travels the country with his vintage 4×5 view camera, seeking out those vanishing rural structures that our country’s heritage was built upon.

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, in 1996 he moved to Vermont to be closer to the rural landscape that he loves. Jim has three children and lives in Shelburne, Vermont with his wife, Kendra where he also runs his studio.

 Director Statement 

I’ve always had an affinity for the fading rural structures of the American landscape and for more than a decade now, I’ve traveled the country photographing these gems (e.g. barns, coal sheds, grain elevators, one room schoolhouses, prairie churches etc.) as they rapidly disappear. In my wanderings, I inevitably encounter or seek out the people who own these evocative treasures, all with their own stories to tell. As my body of images grew and I began to knit them together with these rich histories, I realized there was an important story of past and present that needed to be told. This is how the Vanish film was born.