The faded remnants of a glorious past are captured in all their morbid beauty, in images that manifest the ephemeral and go beyond all conventional associations and conceptions of the American South: This title combines carefully crafted photographs from the past ten years with a cultural history of the region's social and structural changes. With an unflinching gaze, J rg Rubbert presents the demise of countless small towns between Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, their suffering particularly tangible following the financial crisis. Rural towns, idyllic at first glance, are soon revealed as forgotten relics of times long past.