About Past & Present Photography

Greetings! My name is Rick Pieros. Growing up in the 1970s near the Union Pacific rail yard in Salt Lake City was incredibly a place of wonder. Fields of sagebrush stretched to the west all the way to the airport, and you could fall asleep under the stars in your back yard to the sounds of distant railroad whistles. Where the Interstate 215 freeway is today, there was once the perfect abandoned farmhouse. Dishes still filled the cupboards, and old kerosene lanterns sat on the windowsills. There was a stack of vintage Field & Stream magazines from the 1950s that you could flip through. My love for the vanishing western experience was kindled there in that farmhouse. Since then, I have been traveling the rural and wild areas of the western U.S., exploring ghost towns, outlaw hideouts, and abandoned farms. Once I became interested in photography, I quickly switched from a path pursuing purely nature photography, to follow this passion for documenting the unique artifacts of the western experience. I seek to capture what is left, and to illuminate what has been lost. Whether it is the abstract details of weathered farm equipment; mining camps, abandoned automobiles, antique gas pumps, or other items left behind to be patinaed by the elements, they all tell a story of the vanishing West. I encourage you to join me on my explorations through my photographs. Enjoy!Read their story