Twenty photographers participated in the exhibit at the February, 2009, conference of the PA Assoc. for Sustainable Agriculture. Some 300 excellent images were projected on a large screen in the main exhibit hall in a continuous loop during the entire three days of the conference. They were seen and admired by some 2000 conference attendees. The title of the exhibit was "Loving Your Mother: Farming as if The Earth Matters." We are looking for your photographic response to sustainable farming in Pennsylvania: what does it look like? Its joys and sorrows, its produce, animals, people… everything. We had a huge range of responses to that question last year, from photographs of a community barn-raising followed by the barn blowing down and a farm house in flames to all manner of crops, people and livestock, growing, planting, harvesting.

Images are sought for the 2010 version of the exhibit. It will have the slightly updated title: "Loving your Mother: Farming as if the Earth Matters, 2010."

To participate, please submit 10-12 images showing your impressions of what it means to farm sustainably in Pennsylvania. The images should be sized not more than about 300Kb each, at 150 ppi, and about 7 inches maximum image dimension. Send these on a CD to Donald L. Gibbon, 205 Elysian St., Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Final submissions due by January 10, 2010. The program will be shown 4-6 February 2010. Copies of the exhibit will be available after the Conference for $5 including shipping and handling. These may be shown anywhere with suitable credit given to the organizations and individuals involved.

This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Sierra Club, the Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh and the East End Food Coop in Pittsburgh. It is funded by a grant from the Bernheim Bequest to the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club. We had a huge range of responses to that question last year, from photographs of a community barn-raising followed by the barn blowing down and a farm house in flames to all manner of crops, people and livestock, growing, planting, harvesting. Not everyone stuck to the rules: one photographer submitted some really interesting images of a sprout-growing operation in New York City. The farm was underground, bathed in fluorescent lights! One photographer submitted lovely rich images of work on a cooperative farm in Illinois. So there's obviously room for artistic license.

Donald L. Gibbon
dongibbon@earthlink.net