A museum of junked cars

In a forest an hour's drive north of Atlanta, an unusual museum has taken root.

Old Car City USA, in White, Ga., is the most unique junkyard in the world - what owner Dean Lewis calls "a 34-acre piece of art."

Old Car City USA is home to 4,200 American cars (model years 1972 and older), many of which have returned to the Earth from whence they came.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Rotting Art

Detroit may have designed these rides, but Mother Nature has done all the detailing. Some cars have grown right up with the trees; others have become two-ton flower pots.

Junkyard

The museum had its origins in 1931, when Dean Lewis' parents bought a plot of land and opened a general store. They later bought some old junk cars to sell parts.

CBS News' Tracy Smith asked Lewis, "When you were a kid, you played around in all the junk cars?"

"Oh, I drove 'em a million miles. Never moved an inch!" Lewis replied.

De-Muscled Car

After high school, Lewis (who worked as a truck terminal manager) hauled home used cars so his parents could sell off their parts. But as many of the cars rusted and rotted and began to merge with the landscape, Lewis had an epiphany - to turn what was a junkyard into a museum.

Lewis told his children, "This place would probably turn into a showplace one day rather than a sales place. And it has."

Cadillac

Every year hundreds of visitors pay $15 to stroll through Old Car City USA's six miles of trails ($25 if they want to bring a camera) to take in the strange, organic harmony of rust and roots.

Rotting Art

Photographer Clint Brownlee, of Woodstock, Ga., regularly visits Old Car City USA.

Hood Ornament

Brownlee told CBS News that he is really attracted to photograph at Old Car City USA because of "the beautiful forms, lines and shapes of these old cars that are from an era when cars were art."

Rambler

"I have never really considered myself a 'car guy,' but I have always appreciated the classic lines and beauty of cars," said Brownlee. "And to see so many rotting away and falling apart, it is a little heartbreaking to think about what it could look like if it were restored."

Plymouth

From Old Car City USA.

Ornament

"I also find the faded paint, the patina and the rust attractive, as well as the beautifully-sculpted hood ornaments," Brownlee said.

Ford

"It is pretty cool to see some of the old cars that I remember from childhood. There is an old Vega in there similar to the one that my parents had when I was little. There is also an old green Ford F100 in there - it's the same color of faded green as the one my dad had for hauling stuff. I remember him trying to teach me how to shift gears in it since it was a three-speed on the column."

Rear View

"For a photographer, Old Car City USA is visually overwhelming," Brownlee said. One thing he tries to help other photographers with is "how to narrow down the potential subject matter into easily-manageable sections. Most people are very thankful for this guidance."

He also teaches photographic techniques, such as macro photography, HDR photography, and focus stacking, as a way to capture some of the special subjects at Old Car City.

Dashboard

At Old Car City USA Clint Brownlee primarily shoots with Nikon Digital SLR cameras with a variety of lenses depending on the subject. "My favorite is the 105mm f 2.8 macro lens. I also use a variety of collapsible reflectors, and sometimes I use off-camera flash with a colored gel filter."

A gold collapsible reflector bounced the natural sunlight into the cab of the truck. "The soft, natural, golden light adds drama to the scene," Brownlee said.

Eagle

From Old Car City USA.

Shattered Glass

Frost on a car window.

Mack

A rare 1941 Mack milk truck.

Time Suspended

From Old Car City USA.

Cloaked

Brownlee says the stories of the old cars and their former owners, and all the places these cars have been, resonate with him.

"Sometimes, when I am there alone and it's quiet, I can almost feel the energy that was in these cars radiate out and wanting to tell their story to someone who will listen."

Rotting Art

From Old Car City USA.

Rust

From Old Car City USA.

Impala

From Old Car City USA.

Plymouth

From Old Car City USA.

Ford

From Old Car City USA.

Pontiac Chieftain

The lighted lucite Indian hood ornament from a Pontiac Chieftain.

Photographer

Melody Andrews, from Detroit, is one of the dozens of photographers who travel to Old Car City USA every week - from as far away as Thailand and Sweden - to capture the unique landscape.

Back to Nature

"This is the absolute best place I have ever been to shoot," Melody Andrews told CBS News. "There's just so much to see, to learn and to smell. You could smell the oldness of the cars. There's history here."