Portraits from The Farm

During the summer of 2006, my wife, 1st son, and I spent 5 weeks at The Farm near Summertown, Tennessee, awaiting our second child's birth. While we were at The Farm, I wanted to do a small series of portraits to learn more about the community, have new conversations, and to sharpen my portraiture skills. I placed a couple of signs around the farm which has about 300 full time residents. All but one of the people who I photographed and/or expressed an interest in my project were women. Carol and Jean, Pigment Print, 2006, Photo: Dennis DeHart

Carol and Jean are midwifes and have delivered over 3000 babies in a home birth environment. They were both part of the original Farm community that began in the 1970's.

Lisa, Pigment Print, 2006, Photo: Dennis DeHart

Lisa was one of the first people we met at the Farm. She took me on several hikes and educated us about ticks and other charming aspects of Tennessee nature.

Maryland, Pigment Print, 2006, Photo: Dennis DeHart

Maryland was one of the original settlers of The Farm. She went to college with one of my painting teachers at The Evergreen State College, Maryland Frasca (coincidently they have the same name) and was curious how Maryland was doing (Maryland sadly enough passed away a few years before) Maryland had great stories to tell including living in Paris and on a commune in New Mexico before arriving at The Farm. During the 1980's, when The Farm, due to financial difficulties, moved from a socialist system to a payment system, Maryland like most people, moved away in order to find work. Maryland settled in Nashville and became French teacher. Maryland decided after retiring, to return to The Farm and live. The Buddhist sculpture garden in the background of this photograph was created in memory of her daughter, who had recently passed away.

Gwen, Pigment Print, 2006, Photo: Dennis DeHart

Gwen moved to The Farm from Nashville in recent years. She was hoping to find a place for her children who were facing many challenges in the urban environment. Gwen is a writer among other talents and gifted me a copy of her book African Alchemy.

Malina, Pigment Print, 2006, Photo: Dennis DeHart

Part of the next generation of children from the Farm, Malena's family moved to the Farm in the 1980's in order to live the lifestyle they wanted. Malena grew up in the community and left in her late teens to live in New York City. After 8 years, Malina decided to return to the farm.

While visiting the Permaculture Center, I was told that Joel Sternfield had been visiting and had taken pictures for a project he was working on. Also, one of his former students, baby sat our son and raved about his important influence on her at Sarah Lawrence College. Joel's book is entitled Sweet Earth: Experimental Utopias in America. I highly recommend it for its interesting history and beautiful photographs.