Finding the Soul of America in Small-Town Iowa

Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi in Keokuk, Iowa, Cody Weber just wanted to get out. The town, like much of rural America, was hit hard by the decline in manufacturing. Weber watched hopes dwindle and storefronts empty out. As his friends slowly left the town, Weber joined up with “crappy band after crappy band,” and made his way around the country as a touring musician. But he always ended up back in Iowa.

Eventually, instead of resisting his home, Weber found a way to understand it. A photographer since age 14, Weber, now 28, has spent the past year and a half traversing the state, documenting its small towns for his project, Forgotten Iowa. His girlfriend, Kat Kanan, locates the places and plans the routes; traveling on the weekends from their home in Fairfield, they’ve reached about 400 of the state’s 947 towns.