I have come to know John Hoiland, an 89-year-old lone rancher of Mcleod Montana, over the last four years. John’s family came to Montana in 1906. He still lives on the same 940 acres and in the same house his family built before he was born. He never married. His parents died, leaving John to move relentlessly from one chore to the next until daylight is gone. “I have to do what three of us did,” he says. Some of the outbuildings that sprawl across John’s acres seem to be hanging on for dear life. These photographs follow John throughout his day that he has called home for generations. I document the hardships that come with being responsible for both land and animals. Against the expansive Western landscape you will see the decline of John’s home, his time constraints now making it too difficult to maintain.
