Harvesting Photographs, Part One

Fruition

Think of [photography] as a harvest.

You till the ground.

Plant.

Water.

Wait.

Apple trees take years to bear fruit.

Harvest.

Clean.

Process.

Then you have apple pie.

- Keelie Breanna, online poet

With apologies to online poet Keelie Breanna...I have substituted her word ‘writing’ with my word ‘photography’ in the above poem.

The explanation...

Last week, I was listening to the weekly B&H photography podcast and heard a wonderful interview with the well known Danish photographer Sisse Brimberg. (link) What a delight it was hearing her talk about her approach to photography, especially street photography. Towards the end of the interview, she used a phrase that immediately caught my imagination – she referred to “harvesting” her photographs. What a great metaphor: harvesting photographs! It’s such a conscious, respectful approach to photography – no shooting, taking, or capturing. It’s an approach that rewards a long term process instead of a hasty ‘grab and dash’. As poet Keelie Breanna writes, before you end up with the apple pie, you have to go through a lot of steps beforehand. 

If you want to learn more about Sisse Brimberg’s photography, here’s a  link to a 53-minute YouTube video of a presentation she made at a photography show in 2018.

Last Sunday, I was blessed with wonderful photography at the O’Hara Mills Conservation area near Madoc. It was an outing organized by the Prince Edward County Photography Club. The photos I recorded reflect a very pastoral world, filled with trees, ponds, flowers, and respectful human care.  The photos did, indeed, feel like a harvest.

Next week, I plan to post another series of harvest photos – this time, a literal harvest – from the recent Hastings County Plowing Match and Farm Show.

I hope you enjoy these photos.