Carol M. Highsmith’s photograph Rural scene, South Dakota is striking because there is so little in it.
A lone tree stands in a broad sweep of golden prairie beneath a huge blue sky. A fence crosses the foreground, quietly reminding us that this is not untouched wilderness, but a working rural landscape shaped by people.
The tree is small.
The prairie is large.
The sky is larger still.
That scale defines the Great Plains. In a country like this, a single tree can become a landmark, and something as simple as a fence can tell us a great deal about how people have used and divided the land.
Highsmith made the photograph on September 16, 2009, but the scene feels almost timeless.
The full article takes a closer look at what this simple South Dakota landscape tells us about the prairie, rural America, and the quiet documentary power of an ordinary photograph.
