Several years ago I picked up some old ghost town guidebooks from the library. Written about 30 years ago, these proved an unreliable guide to the changing American landscape. Some towns had disappeared. Others had been repopulated--some as big-draw tourist towns. A few, like this tiny mining town nestled in Oregon's mountains, remained essentially unchanged. These honest old towns are my favorites for photography, because the architecture and feeling of the old place are intact.

I hand color the red bike in this black-and-white photograph.

Lee Rentz