The Steps We Climb

There’s something honest about a set of old wooden steps. No polish, no pretense — just a path

that’s been used enough times to show it. When I stopped to photograph this staircase, it wasn’t the structure that stood out. It was the story written into it.

The boards are worn smooth in places, splintered in others. You can see where weather has taken its toll and where thousands of feet have done the same. People have come up these steps for every reason imaginable — rushing to beat the clock, climbing slowly with their thoughts, or stopping halfway just to breathe and look around. Every tread holds a little bit of someone’s journey.

What I love about scenes like this is the quiet reminder tucked inside them: progress isn’t always clean or elegant. Most of the time, it’s uneven. Imperfect. A little weathered, just like these boards. But still—still—built to hold you as long as you’re willing to keep moving.

This frame felt like a small echo of that truth. You don’t need the whole path, and you don’t need every answer. Sometimes all that’s required is the next step.

📍Dandridge, TN

#KennethHinerPhotography #BlackAndWhitePhotography #StepsForward