Since the summer of 1999, I have been photographing the environs described by a loose triangle between San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and the Rio Grande Valley - an area I call the Texas Coastal Plain. This plain is land with low rolling hills and lots of flat land. The earth is rich and the sun omnipresent. This is big land with big sky. The horizon remains visible always.

The land is thinly populated with small towns that have been around for more than a century. Nearly all the small towns have beautiful old Texas architecture in their town centers but the towns are dead or dying. The primary livelihood of the inhabitants is farming and ranching. No new businesses beyond simple services are cropping up. Wal-Mart is prevalent and has displaced the small businessman. Except for the coastal communities, it is not a vacation or recreation destination. Young people leave for the lure of the bigger cities. Few births are being recorded.

In this land that at first take has a deadening sameness, many photographic themes have arisen and beg exploration: the profusion of trailer parks, occupied in main by transient Mexican Nationals laborers and the poor; Mexican graveyards - strange, gaudy and beautiful; the surprise and iconoclasm of yard decoration; farm and ranch homes - their self-sufficiency and their placement in the vast landscape; and always the slow, steady decay.

I have been photographing with a medium format camera and a 4x5 view camera. However, the subject is dictating a change to larger format - 5x7 and 8x10 film - in order to capture the essence of the landscape and the sweep of the horizon. And although up to now most of my work has been in B&W, I want to continue to explore using color. I see this project as a long-term affair - several years of work might make a dent in the subject. The possibilities are as big as the land.