The Common Good: An Indiana Heritage Built with Taxes, Tithes, and Tuition - Softcover

Some sit vacant along desolate country roads, surrounded by cropland, weedy fields, or scrubby woods. Others stand ignored, as they slowly deteriorate in big cities and small towns. They were the pride of their communities, meeting the needs of generations of Hoosiers, as places of learning, worship, refuge, or justice. They were built for the common good but, in time, they outlived their usefulness. Perhaps the population moved on, or they were inadequate in some way, or just too costly to maintain. Whatever the reason, each was closed up, left behind and, too often, forgotten.John Bower has captured the essence of these once-vital structures from our collective past in emotionally moving black-and-white photographs. Images of forlorn schools, churches, county homes, jails, and more, from all across Indiana, are preserved on these pages—as the buildings themselves slowly turn to dust.

John Bower s compelling black-and-white photographs have been shown in 25 solo exhibitions throughout the Hoosier state, and he is represented in the permanent collections of several prominent Indiana museums, including the Indiana State Museum. He has received three Individual Artist Grants from the Indiana Arts Commission and, in 2008, he was named an Indiana Artisan. His work has been featured in scores of Hoosier publications. The Common Good is the seventh Indiana photography book he and his artist wife Lynn have created.