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| Riggott, Dean. "Farm Life." Dean Riggott Photography. Web. 13 Nov. 2015. |
The way that the general public looks at farmers is quite
different from how farmers really are.
The mainstream media likes to use the generalized term of red-neck or
back-woods. Out in the mid-west they
call them Hoosiers. Whatever the name is
they all have a negative connotation. Unsophisticated,
unintelligent and uncivilized. These
are terrible generalizations tat need to be done away with. The reality is that farmers are good down to
earth people that contribute so much to society. Hard work mixed with discipline, blood, sweat,
and family values.
This photo taken by
Dean Riggott shows a little more than a pitch fork and a dirty pair of boots. This instantly took me back to the times when
I would help my friend muck out the barn. The smell of manure and a weathered straw are
singed into the memories. This was not a
onetime ordeal. This was something that
was done on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.
Not just in the summer but fall,
winter, spring as well. Although this
image may not be fancy or complex it tells the tale of the hard working farmer.
The pitch fork is used, worn, and
dirty. The boots look to be in the same
shape. The blurry background of straw
suggest that the work is not done. In fact
the work will never be done for this farmer. There will always be straw to pitch, hay to
stack, tractors to fix , fields to harvest and the list goes on.
Although farmers may get a little unruly in the movies, most
of them in the real world don't have the time.
Sun up to sun down farmers are working.
Images like this help me to better appreciate what farmers do. I say if we could all be a little more like
that farmer we would be better off.
