"Reclaimed" 2 - Ron Rice Fine Art Photography

"Reclaimed"

Reclaimed is a personal and ongoing exploration of the spaces and things we leave behind—and what they become in our absence. This project seeks out the quiet tension between what was once purposeful and what now persists in stillness, shaped not by human hands but by time, weather, and the slow, patient work of nature..

An abandoned gas station in the Utah desert stands weathered and forgotten, its “OPEN—COME ON IN” sign fading into irony. Overgrown brush and cracked pavement encroach on the building, hinting at a bygone era of roadside stops and long stretches of isolat

The series began with simple curiosity and evolved into a meditation on impermanence.

A lone tree stands rooted in calm, reflective flood waters under a soft blue sky, its vibrant green leaves glowing against the misty backdrop in a tranquil, almost surreal scene.

An abandoned bus rests in the desert scrub near Monument Valley, Utah, its weathered frame and peeling paint echoing a bygone era, surrounded by barbed wire and sagebrush under the vast, open sky of the high desert.

Along roads less traveled and in forgotten corners of towns, I’ve found remnants of lives and stories etched into the landscape: a diner long closed but still advertising welcome, a rusted bus fenced off in a field, a streetlight swallowed by rising floodwaters. These are not just abandoned objects or places—they are silent testaments to resilience, memory, and transformation.

Adding to this visual narrative, the ruins of Old Sheldon Church offer a more reverent expression of those themes. Here, in the shadow of towering brick columns and moss-draped oaks, I felt a sacred kind of stillness. The church, once burned and rebuilt, now stands open to the sky, its empty arches framing light and foliage in a soft dance of decay and renewal. It reminds me that even our most enduring structures—those built for worship, gathering, and permanence—are subject to nature’s quiet reclaiming.

The brick columns of the Old Sheldon Church ruins rise hauntingly among moss-draped oaks in Yemassee, SC, bathed in soft, golden light that adds a timeless, reverent mood to the historic site.

An abandoned roadside diner in South Haven, Michigan, “The Legendary Ma's Coffee Pot” sits quietly among overgrown weeds and cracked pavement—its faded sign and vacant windows echoing the charm and nostalgia of a once-beloved local landmark.

Each photograph in this series—whether a tree rooted in floodwaters, a roadside relic, or the remains of a sacred space—asks the same fundamental question: What becomes of the things we leave behind? In capturing them, I’m not just documenting ruin. I’m witnessing transition. I’m honoring the layers of history, memory, and change embedded in these places.

The images in Reclaimed are presented in black and white or subdued color, echoing the emotional tone of solitude and reverence I feel in these spaces. They are intentionally sparse, free of people, allowing the viewer space to enter, reflect, and remember. My goal is not to mourn what’s been lost—but to elevate what still stands. To find beauty in the broken. To listen closely to what remains.

A solitary streetlamp rises from floodwaters under a moody sky, its reflection rippling through the still surface—an eerie yet striking scene of nature reclaiming space.

Ultimately, Reclaimed is about time—its passage, its effects, and its quiet grace. It’s about learning to see the dignity in decay, the poetry in ruins, and the powerful silence of a world slowly, steadily, taking itself back.