Bare Handed

The photo series Bare Handed depicts individuals in rural America with a focus on their relationship to the land. Individuals were selected for their passion for maintaining rural traditions and ways of working that preserve natural resources despite the challenges of agribusiness, climate change, and technology. Working directly with their hands and often with nearly obsolete tools or technology, they demonstrate a powerful yet intimate connection as they work in tandem with their environment: drummers in a swamp forest; shrimpers; and catfish "noodlers," capturing seventy pound fish with bare hands. The accompanying written essay highlights the inherent tension between the swiftness of creating a photograph, which happens in a fraction of a second, and the watching and waiting for the right moment to make an image. Much like the slow food movement, “slow photographs” involve significant research, and sometimes a full year of waiting due to the seasonal nature.