Ford Gilbreath

Artist Statement

In 2018, our family moved from Seattle to a rural town with a population of approximately 600 in eastern Washington. When we first moved to the Palouse region, we were immediately entranced by the night skies. I began making photographs at night from the dirt and gravel farm roads near our new home, and also began taking long walks at night with my camera in our new hometown. Photographs from the 2 projects, The Overnight Farm Report and Our Town After Dark, can be seen online at www.fordgilbreath.com, and 10 prints from Our Town After Dark are included in the 2023 Blue Sky Drawers project. 

Walking in our town at night is fascinating. The light from natural and artificial sources is beautiful and odd. Seeing the silos and holiday decorations, along with the combination of isolation and community spirit, as well as the vulnerability of our infrastructure — all makes me feel very small. It helps me think of the people who live and work here, even though I rarely see another person late at night. 

Concepts such as The Clock of the Long Now, and the blending of the past and present, are ideas that become real when you are looking at the night sky, and standing in a place which has been home for many different inhabitants for a long time. It reminds me of the responsibility we should take for the ways that we have treated our planet and each other.

Ford Gilbreath | Garfield, Washington 

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