Sunset Photography: A New Visual Take on a Very Old South Carolinian Church

For years, I've been traveling to and from rural South Carolina to visit family living right along the Georgia state line.

Each time I visit, the journey is peppered with the sight of desolate buildings, abandoned homes, falling apart churches, and dilapidated stores from town to town.

I always wonder about these forgotten dwellings during our many drives down south but even more so when I happen to learn who used to live at such and such location; or when I'm told the name of whatever convenience store that had once thrived long ago.

One day, I plan to drive down south without kids or any family members and just hop from town to town, visually documenting (by way of drawings, paintings, or photography … still deciding) so many of these decaying homes and crumbling buildings.

I long to capture a shred of their frayed existence to salvage, if at all possible, their memory, no matter how faded.

That intended journey, however, is more of a future personal project.

Getting back to the present day, I was able to snap this photo (see featured image above) of an abandoned, lonely building I always happen to drive by during my many travels down south.

The featured image showcases my photo of Saint Johns Church; an old, vacated church located in the heart of Garnett, South Carolina.

Year after year, this old church seems to sit ever so quietly along the intersection of two desolate country roads. I see the occasional car drive right on by time and again, possibly never giving the church and its grounds much thought.

Yet I can't help but wonder why the church continues to remain discarded and forgotten year after year.

I wonder such things, and other like-minded thoughts, about the many old buildings peppering endless coils of country roads where my all in-laws live. This is why I was so excited to have taken the time during my most recent visit down south to photograph this Garnett-based church.

The timing of the photo was perfect too: you can see the South Carolinian sun as it gradually descends along the adjacent tree line, all the while lining the sky and surrounding scenery in its golden light and orange splendor.

Unfortunately, there's not much information online about Saint Johns Church, at least not that I've been able to come across. The starkness of findable information, to me, underscores the importance of my recent photo capturing effort, which I hope helps preserve the church's distant memory in a small but meaningful (and beautiful) way.

Photo credit: Mayra Ruiz-McPherson