Dairy farmer Ray Woods checks the condition of the farm's cows after putting out feed for them during a snowy morning in Wells River, Vermont. The Northern New England dairy farmer, especially in Vermont, has been a long time symbol of independence and hard work but their numbers are thinning due to stagnant milk prices, long hours, increasing property values, growing expenses and children who are not interested in farming.

This picture was kind of a vision quest type thing. I considered doing this story for around a year before I actually started it and this type picture was something that I had in mind almost from the start. I wanted to get something of an older farmer working in the snow with the bleak New England winter landscape as a background to portray this aspect of being a Northern New England dairy farmer. After finishing a shoot in Plainfeild, New Hamsphire I was driving along Vermont's Route 5 on a snowy day when I saw this farmer out in the field feeding the cows. I stopped the jeep and got the photo gear out but he was finished by the time I started walking toward the field. I went to the farmhouse to find him and found out that he fed the cows everyday at the same time. A couple of days later it was snowing across the region so I made the drive north and got the shot that I wanted plus a couple others on another part of the farm. The original vision that I had in mind for this shot was to be closer in on the farmer but I think this actually worked better. It is further away and less personal making it more representative of farmers in general rather than one in particular. Ironically it was driving along this same road almost two years earlier that made me think of getting this kind of picture, although it was another farm further south where the idea first came to mind.

Photo Technical Details