Born and raised in rural Kansas, and still living there, Cole Howard has been surrounded by the remains of small-town America and empty main streets. He sees much of our national progress as leaving behind a hollow shell of what were once thriving communities. Interest in machines, engines, and structures since youth has led him into an engineering career. This career has taken him into many of the old American industrial cities. The abandonment and disuse of these cities once called the arsenal of democracy left him with the same feeling as empty main streets.

The images captured by Cole reflect his interest in design, architecture, and machines; but in addition to these subjects he wants us all to see the America he loves. To many the good old days are simply nostalgia, which may be true, but as Mr. Howard states - “It seems our culture has lost its soul today, the technology that supposedly brings us together has stripped us of the basic human interactions essential to our real happiness”.

Willing to accept the accusation of being backward looking, Cole creates images that seem timeless and old, to quote him “When I think of photography I think of old pictures, not the new bright almost surreal images you see on a screen”. Old as some of his images seem, they capture the world now, but a world that may not be there for long.