Roseman Bridge © Rich Scroggs
Winterset, Iowa is quiet town of about 4,000 people. It is best known to outsiders as the birthplace of John Wayne (whose statue stands in the center of town) and as the home of the famous (or infamous, if you’re a literary critic) bridges of Madison County. The bridges have stood since the 1880s, but they received widespread fame after Robert James Waller published his novel The Bridges of Madison County in 1992, which became a runaway success that was later adapted to a feature film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The film was shot in various locations around Winterset itself.Photographer Rich Scroggs has lived in Winterset for the past few decades, recording the quieter moments of rural life, far removed from the dramatics of Wallers’s novel. Here, to celebrate the beginning of winter and the first snows that have covered the prairie, we present a frosty set of Scroggs’s winter photos, including a portrait of the famous fire-engine red bridges.
Rich Scroggs was a photographer, writer, and law minister from Winterset, Iowa. He passed away January 2, 2012 and is survived by his wife Jeanne, and stepson, Matthew. Thank you for everything that you brought into our lives, Rich. We love you and miss you.