Wilsonville, OR -- (SBWire) -- 09/16/2014 --Capturing human presence in a natural scene is an art in itself. Through the photograph of an abandoned farmhouse in Flora, Oregon, Dennis Frates does credit to himself as an artist whose heart is in the right place.

As the world continues to move in ever quicker strides from the ‘old’ to the ‘new’, the question of what is necessary and what isn’t, continues to linger in the collective consciousness. And it is this very question that the photographer seeks to address within himself and in the viewer/observer.

The tractor in the foreground, in utter disuse, is a relic of a time long gone. But what strikes the viewer is that it is framed in such a way that one watches the scene from behind the wheel of this tractor. One in instantly transported to that time, and is therefore bound to feel a sense of disuse, abandonment and a form of neglect. These feelings are hidden within everyone, since no one is fast enough to actually keep up with the world at large. One is then left with conflicting imagery; is the tractor trying to finally blend in to its surroundings, now that its masters are gone, or is nature reclaiming what once was, and has always been, its own space?

There are many such farm homes in the region, largely forgotten and in ruins but each with its own story, known only to the skies and the trees that have been constants. But for a photograph of such a farmhouse to evoke any sort of emotion, it takes artful framing. Artful, in this sense, is about taking in the surroundings and trying to superimpose one’s own self into those particular things that make it a human scene. The tractor, the house, the barn and the fence. Each of these is in a different corner, and yet, they somehow seem to group together in the frame, for a sort of portrait of the forgotten. Herein lies Dennis Frates’ true ability as a photographer; to bring in genuine emotion into the human scene and dig deeper than surface level rhetoric and clichéd nostalgia.

About the Photographer
David Frates is an award winning photographer whose works have been featured in National Geographic, Sierra Club and Audubon.

Media Contact:
Dennis Frates Photography
10759 SW Wellington Lane
Wilsonville, OR 97070 USA
Phone toll free: 866-657-2717
Local phone: 503-685-9826
Website: http://www.fratesphoto.com/