The Driftless region of the American Midwest was left largely untouched by the glaciers of the last Ice Age. Along its southern boundary, the landscape begins to shift, from rolling farmland and flat prairie to a terrain of limestone bluffs and undulating hills. Perched here, a limestone farmhouse stands as both a witness to and an artifact of the region’s changing economics, culture, and politics. Constructed as the American Civil War was coming to an end — of materials formed during the Paleozoic era — it has been home to the same family for more than 150 years, built of stones some 400 million years in the making.
In his essay Revolt Against the City, painter Grant Wood — a champion of Midwestern regionalism and a son of Iowa — wrote: “I believe in the Middle West in spite of abundant knowledge of its faults.” The faults Wood identified nearly a century ago ranged from stereotypes about rural people to the region’s historic prejudices and a conservative nature often at odds with its own self-interest. And yet, he believed, hidden within was a culture of creativity, enterprise, and resilience. Bottom of the Driftless holds to that same belief, embracing the particular beauty of this place: its contradictions, its endurance, and its quiet insistence on being seen.
About the Author:
Phil Roeder came to photography late in life and, thanks to a combination of good fortune and dumb luck, his work has been exhibited around the country and published around the world. Phil’s work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic Traveler, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Ad Age, Vice, National Journal, Mother Jones, the Atlantic, NPR, Wired, Forbes, Vice, Berliner Zeitung, Le Monde, Roll Call, US News and World Report, and other news outlets. His work has also been included in photography publications such as OAI13 (France) and Contraluz (Spain), and in books published by Edizioni Nuova Cultura (Italy), Bloomsbury (UK), and Palgrave Macmillan (UK). He has several photographs available for licensing through Getty Images. In 2023 his work was included in the artist Shepard Fairey’s book “Weathered” and in 2024 one of Phil’s photographs was featured on a postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
Phil has worked for nearly 40 years in public relations and communications, primarily in and around the public sector, most recently as director of communications for Des Moines Public Schools. Phil earned his BFA in photography from Arizona State University and completes an MA in photography from Falmouth University in August 2025. The images in this document were created as part of his Master’s degree work.
