Autumn in Ohio County
Ben Ashby
Somewhere between Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes lives my hometown. I am from one of those areas that identifies as counties rather than towns. When I refer to my hometown I am basically never talking about the tiny town of 300 I grew up outside of, or the town of 3500 where I tell people is my hometown. The entire county and its population of 24,000 is my hometown. The fifth largest county in Kentucky. A county that is named after the Ohio River even though the river isn’t particularly that close (the part of the county that lies along the river broke away and became its own county years and years ago). The county toes that line between the rolling hills of central Kentucky and the flat Mississippi River bottoms that spread far and wide across western Kentucky. The landscapes in our county start in the east with hollers and valleys and by the time you get to the curves of the Green River the land is endlessly flat. I really do love the landscapes in all seasons, but there is something about autumn here that is warmer, more welcoming, and a reminder that these rural farming communities were built using the bounties of the land. A cornucopia of nature provides a painters palette of inspiration for the camera. These are a few of my favorite images I have shot around the county over the past few autumn.
