Abandoned House; Digby Neck, Nova Scotia

These images are part of the project Evangeline Trail, begun while on residency in Nova Scotia in 2012. The series takes its name from a scenic byway that travels the Eastern Shore of the maritime province. The route itself is named after the epic 1847 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie. The area was first colonized by the French in the early 1600s, and was known as Acadia. In an event later immortalized by Longfellow, British forces took over the region and expelled the Acadians to southern territories. Eventually they were allowed to return, and descendants of those original settlers still populate the region. Having married into a large French Canadian family, and being fascinated with New World maritime and agricultural history, this enclave naturally intrigues me. The coastline is shaped by the largest tidal ranges in the world. Valleys and lowlands are wild, yet highly cultivated. Fog, fierce winds and extreme cold reign over the land much of the yea