Meadow Mist — Janis Hersh

Meadow Mist: A Year on a Farm 2016 - 2017

A walk during an unseasonably warm February day led me to an undiscovered part of my suburban town, and a setting that was to become my photographic home for the next year. Meadow Mist Farm is a small organic farm and a hidden gem in the community, in a rural area that evokes the agricultural heritage that characterized the town for its first two centuries.

Farmer Lauren, with help from her husband John on weekends, cares for the farm and animals: six acres of land for growing vegetables and raising cows, lambs and chickens. I was immediately captivated by this place – cows grazing in a meadow, chickens walking about, and a huge Gothic style barn, which Lauren considers a part of her home. I began visiting frequently to photograph, and learned about farming and food from my talks with Lauren.

My photography focused on Lauren’s life as a farmer, her usually solitary moments of chores and caring for animals, and seeing the land and its inhabitants, in ways which were sometimes new and unexpected. A working farm has many contradictions in its landscape - there are hoses and ladders, equipment and chicken sheds along with the serene views of animals moving in the meadows. The seasons each have their focus, whether it be the winter arrival of baby lambs, harvesting and preserving food, or tending to garlic, which has a task in every season. Collecting eggs is a daily constant.

This work has given me a deeper appreciation of what it takes to provide local food, and the farm has always provided me with balance and respite to a fast paced life. Meadow Mist is a place that surprises me in terms of its quiet, its noises and the discovery of what's new each time I go there.

The entire series was exhibited at the Lexington Community Center, in Lexington, MA January 4 - February 28, 2017.