August 18, 2000/August 5, 2007

Left- Harlow and Jean Cagwin try to lasso a calf while tending to their herd of Angus Beef cattle in Lockport, Illinois.

Right- Ed Grabenhofer is pulled out into the rain by his wife, Amanda, as his mother pulls him back in during Ed's 31st birthday celebration at his Willow Walk subdivision home.

Common Ground follows two families living on the same plot of land, but many years apart. Juxtaposed photos limn the commonalities that bind these families across space and time. Longtime farmers Harlow and Jean Cagwin sold their land after decades of ownership, to a developer who turned it into a subdivision. Then the Grabenhofers, with their four young children, bought a home built on the site where the Cagwin's farmhouse once stood. Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Scott Strazzante captures the simple yet profound moments that show how these two families who seem to live worlds apart nevertheless share a common bond... a common experience... a common ground - as, indeed, we all do. Maybe more so than we realize. The book project has been published in National Geographic, featured on CBS Sunday Morning and made into an award-winning short by MediaStorm.