E*A*W

The Original Chicken King, Roger Schuler. Granja Azul. Lima, Peru.

I love farmers and the act of farming, and I've spent a decent amount of my professional life on farms or thinking about them, but the pressure to render these growers in a way that celebrated their natural power made me nervous. Having no experience in the portrait side of this assignment -- I'm more into photojournalistic action, to be honest -- I was excited to attempt, fail, and figure out a new corner of my craft. I could capture them planting and digging and such with ease, but could I make them look as iconic in my lens as they are in my mind? I tried, and I learned a ton. A few of the photographs below are the result of pure luck. After a few sessions, I became more comfortable asking the farmers to stop what they were doing and pose, which goes against everything I'd normally do as a journalist. In some cases, I think the results were pretty special. Here are a few favorites. 

Morgan County Fashion Week begins now! #pigs #pasture #georgiagrown #cropstories #farmphotography

Oconee County pasture. #bsthislandismyland #pasturesofrosecreekfarm

Fennel Vision.

In short, stay cool, work hard, and check out these photos:

My beloved @cropstories is running a special this week: all 3 editions for $20. Send it to mom for a Mother's Day gift. Keep it for yourself. Just get it in your life. Link to sale in profile. #cropstories #farmsouth #zines #cookbooks #magazines

Pablo tried to give me free food today. Paid him double instead. Barbacoa that tender and chicken soup that garlicky deserves double what he's asking. #polleriapablo #norwood #my_athens #athdining

Chicken wrangling. #my_comer #theredneckleader

Why take a picture of tractor? Because it's there. #athensfarmersmarket #growinggeorgia #farming #farmsouth #cropstories

Tamale power.

Eh Kaw once cleared pine forests for canola and pasture lands to make money. Newly arrived in the U.S., he lived alone in rural Oglethorpe, his family stayed n refugee apartments in Atlanta. Worked all day, hardly ate, rarely saw his wife and kids. He was determined to find independence and a future out here in the middle of nowhere. It nearly ruined him. Today, he took me to the land he cleared so many years ago. He marveled at how much he, and the land itself, had changed. #theredneckleader #moreredneckthantherednecks

Carneghan, McIntosh County, Georgia. Not pictured: sand gnat swarm.

Sunday inspiration from @dominicbracco "March Al Mar," a beautiful photojournalism collection about global fisheries, the animals and people who comprise them.

Ropes and chains.

Long muddy day on the oyster shire for these Hobbit feet.