Documentary Photography and the Disappearance of the American Family Farm...

Two great multimedia documentary photography projects and one really cool commercial on vanishing family farms...

Before we start... watch this...

The American family farm has historically been an essential part of the American economy, diet and landscape. In recent decades, corporations have assumed the roles once fulfilled by private family farms - taking over the land and consumers that were crucial to the survival of individual farmers. This development has left many farming families with an identity crisis... what will their role in society be without the farm that has been part of their familial identity for generations?

The evolution of the family farm is interesting to watch as slow food movements have been gaining momentum. Throughout the United States and Canada, slow food movements that celebrate food, sustainable farming and agricultural heritage have been cropping up (no pun intended). These movements have the potential to breath new life into small private farms as the public is increasingly embracing food that is produced with thought.

The pessimist in me thought that these movements would only thrive with smaller businesses and communities but the Chipotle commercial above shows that sustainable farming might be making a comeback in corporate America. It's hard to believe a corporation once owned by McDonald's produced something so celebratory of small family farming. I thought the commercial was a sign of a promising future for private farming.

The commercial also reminded me of two excellent documentary photography projects that tell the story of the disappearance of the American farm. Be sure to check the clips below out.... both are from the documentary multimedia site MediaStorm. Watch them as they are incredible examples of outstanding documentary photography displayed in a multimedia format. Let me know what you think!

1. Common Ground by Scott Strazzante

The American family farm gives way to a subdivision - a critical cultural shift across the U.S. Common Ground is a 14-year document of this transition, through the Cagwins and the Grabenhofers, two families who love the same plot of land. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/common-ground

Remarkably well done - beautiful juxtaposition of the qualities of life we all share.

2. Driftless by Danny Wilcox Frazier