Farm life, through the eyes of a farmer and corps member

Far removed from the harsh glare of supermarket aisles, a gentle light permeates Emily Kenny’s photographs of farm life, articulating a lifelong experience of working the land. While some of her images might appear like Norman Rockwell paintings of a pastoral utopia, others describe the technological advancements in agriculture, and some simply linger on the gleaming steel knives that cut our meat and vegetables.

Elaine with the oldest bull at Wagyu Beef in Cazenovia, NY. (Photo by Emily Kenny)

“I grew up on a 400-acre farm in Iowa, which sounds like a lot if you’re in Syracuse,” said Kenny, who is a Report for America corps member with Spectrum News in Syracuse, NY, focused on agriculture and food production. “But my neighbor farms 10,000 acres, which is more typical there.”

Weaving visual threads through many quick-turnaround assignments over the past two years with Spectrum, Kenny has built a body of work that speaks intimately to the agriculture industry’s influence on labor laws, farm-to-table restaurants, family and culture. When trying to define such a sprawling beat, Emily often relies on news hooks to dive into a specific topic.

Farmworkers cut cabbage at Hemdale Farms in Clifton Springs, NY. (Photo by Emily Kenny)

“Right now farmers are in a situation where the state legislature cut their overtime threshold from 60 to 56 hours, and that impacts their bottom line,” Kenny said. “Some farmers are cutting hours, or cutting employees, or doing nothing, and I’ve probably done ten visual stories just on this topic. All this affects how much consumers pay for their food, so our audience stays interested.”

Emily’s family farm in Schaller, Iowa, shows up consistently in her personal work, and is included here to present a more complete accounting of her vision and experience. Beyond working her own farm, Emily’s mother Mary Hamilton is also an attorney who helps farmworkers and meatpacking workers injured on the job obtain worker’s compensation.

Kenny’s parents walk with her niece and nephew through the pasture where her cousins keep their cattle. Schaller, Iowa. (Photo by Emily Kenny)

“Working with vulnerable populations like migrant farmworkers, I try to highlight how important their work is,” said Kenny. “No one else wants to do these jobs, and they’re dangerous and underpaid, but our country runs on their labor.”

Emily said her position at Spectrum primarily exists because people are more interested than ever in where their food comes from, whose labor produced it, and whether it contains pesticides, microplastics, or other contaminants.

A butcher cuts beef into steaks at Owasco Meats in Moravia, NY. (Photo by Emily Kenny)

“I think most people don’t really want to know about meatpacking, but there’s not a lot of it in New York State,” Kenny said. “Other than that, they do want to know, and it shows in the proliferation of farm-to-table restaurants here.”

Emily said she started taking photojournalism seriously at Syracuse University’s graduate journalism program, and it was the influence of rural photographers like Danny Wilcox Frazier, whose images are primarily about a sense of place, that helped shape her approach. Kenny worked as an assistant to National Geographic photographer Amy Toensing and continues to be mentored by her.

Access is always an issue for photographers covering agriculture, and Kenny has had challenges getting where she wants to go. In general, however, her command of the language of agriculture and her experience growing up on the farm have opened a lot of doors for her.

Girls at Madison County Open Farm Day. (Photo by Emily Kenny)

“Once I tell people I was in 4H growing up, people visibly relax,” Kenny said.
“My favorite story to photograph every year is the fairs. Everyone is dressed to the nines, and are there to show off—people love getting their picture taken then.”