Farming in 2023 - Jan-Apr

For my Degree Exhibition Project a body of work was created that played to my strengths and allowed me to take a critical look at a subject matter that allowed my skills to be tested. Being a Documentary photographer, the option that I could go and explore a topic and educate myself on something I didn't know to much about was one of the things that was of pivotal to my work. And that was the #farming process of meat production.

When this project was conceived, the initial idea was to follow the #farmtofork process of what it takes to raise an animal for meat, how it is slaughtered, and finally ending up on our plates (if you eat meat). My research began to break down into 4 separate parts.

Part 1 - Farming: What it takes to raise a cow and the length of time that it takes for the animal to reach "slaughter weight"

Part 2 - The Slaughterhouse: How the slaughterhouse processes the animal from when it arrives on site, to the finished product.

Part 3 - The Butcher: Similar to the slaughterhouse, the different cuts of meat and the processes that they go through to make the meat sellable

Part 4 - The End Product: Whether you eat at a restaurant or in your own home, the process of what you do to make the piece of meat edible.

It was during this period, that even more questions began to crop up which made the project more complex. Things like what happens to the parts that are NOT fit for human consumption, bones, skin etc. What happens to them? How can I incorporate these into the project? Will these do the project justice?

You can easily understand how a project can run away from you when you get distracted by outside influences. Even those that are part of the project that you are working on. It soon became apparent that the scope of the project was becoming too big to undertake in the short time I had to complete the work.

It eventually got to the stage where I had to make a decision and narrow the project scope down. And that is what was on display for my #degreeshow.

The project that I focussed on, was how the #farmers tend to their cattle during the winter months. It looked at why they are brought into sheds and the care and attention that they receive. But, I didn't focus on the cattle. No, it was the #textures and the #colourpalette that was focus for me.

During the winter months, there is a lot of earthly tones with brown being the main colour aesthetic for the project. I also learned that the cattle receive the best possible care and are monitored on a daily basis to ensure that they are #healthy and don't have any health issues.

The aim of the #project is to #educate those that come from a Non Farming background as to the work that is involved in raising animals for food. As most people only see cows in the field and then in the supermarkets/butchers.

So join me next time for a more in-depth look at the feeding process