By Robin Postell

FITZGERALD, Ga. – Brian Brown puts a lot of miles on his 2014 silver Jeep Patriot, at least 20,000 miles a year.

The Ben Hill County native calls himself a “one-man show,” constantly on the road chasing down his next featured photo for one of his three websites, Vanishing South Georgia, Vanishing North Georgia, and Vanishing Coastal Georgia.

Brown listens to old 90s “grungy” stuff, but a little bit of everything while he hunts for those spots that excite the Georgian heart. The primal haunting lure of an old vacant house brings to mind all the people who must have lived there, died there; all their combined experiences reminding us of our own glimpsing mortality.

Though he doesn’t consider himself an “academic” or “gearhead” photographer, Brown is making a living using his Nikon D90 with minimal editing, posting photos on his websites and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) which have about 100,000 followers now combined.

An author, and a published poet, in 2008 he was a recipient of the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize, one of the largest independent literary prizes in the United States, and his work has been featured in over 50 journals and anthologies.

He has also been profiled on Bitter Southerner, Telfair.org, and GPB/NPR.

But Brown’s work as an architectural and documentary photographer takes up most of his time (and gas) these days.

Brown was originally inspired to document through photography the structures he associated with his youth and life in rural Georgia.

“I moved back to Ben Hill from Atlanta in 2007 and I wanted to find places in my county from my childhood,” Brown reflected. “I was riding dirt roads and all these places I’d known and taken for granted were gone. The first photos I took were of a farmhouse or a tobacco barn near my family’s farm. I’m glad I did because they’re both gone – one fell, the other was demolished.”

Once Brown ran out of vanishing subjects in his hometown, he expanded. After four years, he started Vanishing North Georgia, with Vanishing Coastal Georgia following.

“What people don’t realize is that these places we have seen day after day throughout our lives and have thought will somehow always be there actually disappear much sooner than you think,” he said.

One of his most shared group of photographs are from the old 70s recreational center, Crystal Lake, in Irwin County. People remember going there as kids and swimming, sliding down the water slides, sunning on the beach, but it is rotting away more every year.

You can check out his photos and blog about Crystal Lake here.

“The thing for me is to stay off the highways,” Brown says. “Rural and vernacular architecture that was widespread throughout the state has really never been documented and I’m trying to capture what I can before they’re all gone.”

He likes shooting in the winter since many of the structures are grown over with foliage in the summer.

Brown is currently putting together a book with the University of Georgia Press and occasionally collaborates with The Georgia Trust off and on, providing images for their Spring and Fall rambles.

“Should I venture into more urban areas?” he asks himself. “A lot of modern architecture from the 20th century is being demolished, too.”

What’s next, Brian Brown? Where will you take us?

Find out soon. Brown will be making Valdosta Today appearances on a weekly basis showcasing some of his prime picks.

COVER PHOTO: Queen Ann House, Valdosta, 2012, by © Brian Brown Photography/Vanishing Media USA 2015. All Rights Reserved.