I last visited Montana on an epic road trip with friends to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks in 2007. Since then, I’ve wanted to get back to some of the places we passed through - especially Helena. The reality of many of the places, perhaps unsurprisingly, is very different than the fond memories I have from that trip, a milestone in my life that helped put me on the path towards what I have become as a photographer.

Helena is a nice small city, but the potential photographs I had in mind my mind from a dozen years ago simply aren’t there. Livingston is another town that, in reality, shares little in common with the quaint little town I remember from that trip.

Butte, on the other hand, is every bit what I had imagined. While it has undoubtedly changed over the years, you can still feel the spirit of Robert Frank when you walk up and down the steep hills of the city center.

Tomorrow will bring me halfway home, and I’ll be back at work before I know it.