Photo Journal Monday: Chanel Irvine
Images and Text by Chanel Irvine
All around the world, the environment has been suffering. We recently saw the Amazon rainforest and Australia go up in flames, following countless other natural catastrophes that increasingly confirm our societies' greatest fear and reinforce our biggest challenge: things need to change. One of the most common suggestions is to lower the impacts of the farming industry. More specifically, beef, sheep and dairy farming, or livestock farming, which contributes to land degradation, a large percentage of global water usage and increasing pressure for deforestation. Of course, there are counterarguments that claim that farming for a 'vegan world' would be almost equally as damaging. Like it has always done, the debate continues...
from “On the Farm” series © Chanel Irvine
For my project, 'On the Farm,' I spent time with small farming families and communities in the northern parts of Iceland, whose practices make a strong case against the intensive and unsustainable present-day industrial model. Their stories, like many others from around the world, reassert the importance of farming for regional communities who depend on it to preserve their heritage, identity and livelihood. The people in these photographs shared with me their daily lives on the farm. They shared their stories and their passion, and a hope that there will always be a need for the work that they do. Through the passing generations they have been forced to adapt to the changing demands for their products and the volatile economic and environmental climate they're working in, ensuring their work is increasingly sustainable.
As these families and communities continue to adapt to our ever-changing socio-political environment, constantly adjusting what’s necessary to survive in their industry, we continue to rely on their products. The spread of COVID-19 across the globe has increased the demand for food, especially fresh produce from farms, reinforcing the need for farming communities like these.
‘Untitled’ from “On the Farm” series © Chanel Irvine
Though change for our planet is both inevitable and necessary, and though we may not yet know what that change is going to look like, I feel obliged to create a collective portrait of farmers today – allowing their most admirable, steadfast and vital presence in today’s world to be retold and reborn.
The story of the human race can be defined and categorized by its different 'ages.' Today, it is important to recognise those that have dedicated their lives to providing food for our current age, as we are likely to soon transition into the next.
As a documentary photographer, Chanel’s practice seeks to portray the power of human initiative, connection and contribution. Inspired by the importance of solution-based journalism, she embraces visual communication that empowers and inspires. Her stories often focus on livelihoods, environments and communities that are susceptible to change based on emerging trends, development demands and the technological progressions that inevitably accompany today’s increasingly modern society. Using a retrospective lens, Chanel’s more personal work similarly reflects this tension between preservation and change. With an eye for moments she deems timeless, her observations consistently focus on scenes that are reminiscent of older, simpler times, which persist seemingly unaffected by the advancements that continuously transform the world we live in. As a result, her photographs accentuate the “ordinary” - reasserting its importance as a photographic subject and highlighting the beauty that can constantly be rediscovered in the everyday.
Chanel is based in London and has recently completed an MA at the Spéos Photographic Institute following a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the Australian National University. She is the English copy-editor of WUNDER journal and a writer for Foto Femme United.
Check out more of Irvine’s work on her website and Instagram
