The
FLATHEAD VALLEY BARN PROJECT
Preserving the people, places and working heritage of Northwest Montana—one photograph at a time.
The Flathead Valley Barn Project grew out of two very different chapters of my life that ultimately taught me the same thing: places & stories matter most, and once they disappear, they are gone forever.
I spent much of my career in broadcast television and then tech, where, paradoxically, I learned how powerful images can be when they document people, places and moments honestly rather than exploiting them purely for commercial gain. Later, working professionally as a guide in Glacier National Park, I developed an entirely different relationship with Northwest Montana—one grounded in landscape, weather, history, wildlife and the people who have built their multi-generational lives here.
This project is where those two perspectives meet.Long before barns, ranches and homesteads shaped the Flathead Valley, Indigenous peoples—including the Bitterroot Salish, Pend d’Oreille, Kootenai and Blackfeet—lived, traveled, hunted and cared for this landscape for thousands of years. Later came explorers, trappers, railroads, prospectors and settlers. Some kept moving. Others stayed because they realized they had already found what they were looking for: Manifest Destiny. God's Country. Home.
Families cleared land, raised livestock, planted crops and built barns, granaries, homes and corrals that became part of the visual identity of modern Montana.
Much of that spirit and many of those relics still exist.
But not for much longer...
Beyond every weather-worn fence, a multigenerational story. . .
The Valley is changing quickly. Farms are being subdivided. Old homesteads are disappearing. Historic barns are collapsing, being dismantled then sold board by weathered board as “rustic” decorations or walls in new homes inspired by the very Montana aesthetic those original buildings inspired.
There is an irony in recreating the look of old Montana while simultaneously removing the places that made it real.
That is why I am creating this project through photography.
A photograph cannot stop development. It cannot repair every barn or keep every ranch intact forever.
But it can preserve the genuine sense of the place.
It can document a rancher standing inside a barn his grandfather built. A family still working the same ground generations later. A horse tied to an old fence line built over a hundred years ago. A homestead foundation quietly resting beneath timeless mountains. A farmer, craftsman, business owner or newcomer who understands that living here also means accepting some responsibility for what makes this valley special.
Those images become a record - perhaps the only record.
They preserve faces, buildings, landscapes and stories. They give families something that can be shared - passed down. They allow future generations to see not simply what the Flathead Valley looked like, but who lived here, who worked here and what this place meant to them.
I am building this project in partnership with local families, ranchers, farmers, landowners and established Flathead businesses who are committed to keeping Montana, Montana.
Together, we become stewards.
If you own or know of an old barn, ranch, farm, historic homestead or remarkable Montana location, I would love to photograph it.
If you are willing to step in front of the camera, share your family history, introduce me to someone whose story should be documented, or help sponsor the creation of these images, I invite you to become part of the project.
If you would like to sponsor a specific photo shoot session or Master Photography Course as a gift to a family friend or simply post the images on your business' social media to share with the Flathead community, please join me...