Bill Enns Seeding

This photograph of my dad Bill Enns (1932-2008) represents a very pleasant surprize. I had completely forgotten about this photograph and was absolutely delighted when I found it while digitizing some slides the other day. I remember that I was trying to learn documentary photography that spring seeding was my project. My farmer dad had no capacity (or inclination) to understand why I had to take pictures of everything. He cared about me, though, and if I was interested in something he would let me go at it, even if he thought it was “a bunch of nonsense”. During seeding and harvest he was focused, a bit anxious, and often had a bit of a grump on, especially if something had gone wrong that day. This photograph is odd because while he would put-up with my photography, he didn’t like being interrupted in his work. There is no way I got him to pose for this photograph, but he did pause for a moment, which is something.

I love the way this photograph tells the story of seeding. We had just filled the discers with wheat and fertilizer and dad was about to get back into the tractor. He’s dressed for work, even for urgency. He often wore old loafers instead of work boots because he couldn’t be bothered taking the time to his boots on the way to the field. The back lighting sets him apart from the scene but doesn’t separate him from the scene - a nice effect. Most of all, I like the way the texture of the freshly-seeded earth and the machines work together to tell the story.

My documentary projects have become precious records of life on the farm. This is how I remember my dad: not in his Sunday best in a photo studio but out on the field putting in the crop.

Nikon FE2 w. Nikkor 35 f/1.4 on Kodachrome 64; Post processing in Adobe Lightroom.