When I began documenting the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund projects of innovative farmers for RAFI-USA this fall, I knew I wanted to take portraits of the farmers’ hands. Hands – just as faces, I think – tell stories. There is great importance for me in paying attention to the hands – hands of the earth, literally, in this case- the hands of those who work with the earth and who are stewards of the ground. When I was taking the photographs, many of the farmers said, “My hands are so dirty.” And I said, “That’s the point!” My hope, with the portraits of hands, is to honor the work those hands do.
See our farmers’ hands here!
