Dan Schlapbach, Farmers Market ©2006

In the spring of 1994, during my graduate studies at Indiana University, I responded to a flyer that requested summer laborers. The flyer read: “Flower farmer seeks workers. Hard work, low pay, beautiful surroundings.” Little did I realize what impact that phone call I made in response to the flyer would have on my life and career. Over the next five years in Indiana, I planted, watered, hoed, weeded, cultivated, cut, bundled, and sold flowers. I witnessed first-hand the exhaustion, joy, frustration, and fulfillment of farming and vending at farmers’ markets. So enamored was I with the process that I seriously entertained the possibility of farming.

I decided, however, to stick with my original plan to pursue a career in photographic education, and relocated myself far from the bucolic Indiana farmland, in urban Baltimore. I was therefore delighted when I received a phone call in the spring of 2005, from the same number I had originally called eleven years ago, asking if I would like to collaborate on a book on farmers’ markets. Thanks to a sabbatical granted to me by Loyola College for the 2005-2006 academic year, I had the opportunity to revisit not only the physical space of farms and markets, but the emotional attachment I had with farming, and farmers’ market communities.

These photographs were made on small, independent farms in several counties in southern Indiana. While making the photographs, I discovered that the approaches to farming (from anachronistic horse-drawn plows, to high-tech drip irrigation), and the reasons for farming (from Pagan idealism to Mennonite tradition) varied wildly. But the passion for farming was consistent.

This passion spilled over into the farmers’ market. I would arrive at the market well before the sun rose, to find customers selecting tomatoes even as the farmers unloaded their trucks. When I set up my camera to make portraits, customers would often seek out their favorite vendor, excited to be documented with the person who weekly brought joy to their lives.

I would like to thank Jennifer Robinson and Jeff Hartenfeld for the opportunity, Loyola College for its support, and Jennifer Roebuck for her guidance.

All photographs were made with a digital camera and are archival Ultrachrome inkjet prints.

Price:  
13” X 19"   $150
24” X 36”     $200

- Dan Schlapbach