davidfarmerie

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Welcome to the Gutenberg Editor

Welcome to the Gutenberg Editor

Of Mountains & Printing Presses

The goal of this new editor is to make adding rich content to WordPress simple and enjoyable. This whole post is composed of pieces of content—somewhat similar to LEGO bricks—that you can move around and interact with. Move your cursor around and you’ll notice the different blocks light up with outlines and arrows. Press the arrows to reposition blocks…

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The Story Behind The Photograph: I Thought You Were Prolife

The Story Behind The Photograph: I Thought You Were Prolife

When I saw this image it caused me to pause for a moment, and I knew that I had to capture it. But it was afterwards, as I was editing through the image files, that I was struck once again by the image. But this time the full impact of it hit me, and began a thought process – a process of contemplation about the message presented by the sign: “I Thought You Were Pro Life”.

For decades the…

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The Coney Island Cafe: Hattiesburg, Mississippi

The Coney Island Cafe: Hattiesburg, Mississippi

March 22, 2018 Hattiesburg, Mississippi

I tried, over several hours, to write a piece about this amazing place that has served the community of Hattiesburg, Mississippi for 94 years. The words came, but my no means in short form – because there is no way to tell the story within the confines of a few sentences, or even a few paragraphs. The story is multi-faceted, with multiple people – three…

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Coney Island Cafe: Wall of Honror Coney Island Cafe: Hattiesburg, Mississippi The walls of the Coney Island Cafe are covered in photographs that illustrate much of the cafe’s history.

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Jack Daniels Driving from Nashville to Birmingham, Alabama, along Interstate 65 south, I came upon this sign situated just off of the highway at mile marker 19.8.

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The Story Behind the Photograph: Waffle House

The Story Behind the Photograph: Waffle House

                    When I moved to The South, more than a decade ago, I discovered Waffle House. Initially it was nothing more than a restaurant that adorned the highways, and byways of the southern states. But as I began to travel these roads I found myself stopping at these somewhat ionic restaurants. At first I was unimpressed. But then I became hooked.

At first I think it was the…

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#road trip #waffle house

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Wyoming Highway 24

#wyoming #rural #rurallife #ruralscene #rural_love #rural exploration #theinsearchofamericaproject

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Along South Dakota Highway 63, near mile marker 138 on right, northbound.

#rural #rurallife #rural_love #ruralscene #rural exploration #south dakota #black and white #theinsearchofamericaproject

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In rural South Dakota it is nearly as common to have a grouse, or a pheasant splattered on one’s grill, or heaven forbid, one’s windshield, like it is in most places to have the same encounters with bugs. The grouse and the pheasant here, and they are the only ones that I can speak about with any authority, seem to be somewhat dimwitted. I don’t say this with an aide of condescension, but rather a fact deduced by many opportunities to study them. Both species tend to sit along the side of the road or, in the case of the grouse that I hit yesterday, while driving north on SD Highway 63, tend to casually walk out into the road while a vehicle is approaching, seemingly oblivious to the impending dangers. Then, when the vehicle is just upon them, they take flight: generally in the same direction that the vehicle is traveling, but at a much slower rate of speed, assuring a violent collision, and for the grouse, near certain death. For the pheasant, however, they tend to remain on the edge of the road then perform one, or two acts: either they take off running, across the path of the approaching vehicle, en mass; (not just one, but several), like lemmings to the sea, or they remain hidden just off of the road’s edge, generally in tall grass in which they are obscured. Then they take flight in the same manner as those who run: across the path of the approaching vehicle. This tends to be more severe, as it tends to put them at windshield height by the time the impact occurs. Earlier today, as I was driving back from a drive to the local post office in Eagle Butte, I saw a pheasant lying dead on the side of the road. I felt compelled to stop, but I wasn’t sure why. Regardless,  I turned the Expedition around: which is no small undertaking on the backroads with snowdrifts piled high on the sides, and returned to the place where the dead pheasant lay. When I picked it up to move it, it was obvious that it had just recently been killed. Its body still limp from lack of rigor mortis, or the freezing temperatures having set in. I decided to make a photograph of it, a few in fact, because of its beauty. I also removed a few of its tail feathers, as a talisman I suppose, but even now I continue to feel odd about that decision. I’m not sure why. When I finished making the photographs I grabbed it by its feet and flung it further into the surrounding area so that nature could make use of its vacant carcass, especially in these cold temperatures where food is far more difficult to acquire, and is far more imperative to one’s survival.

#rural #rurallife #ruralscene #rural exploration #south dakota #roadkill #roadtrip #theinsearchofamericaproject

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Standing Rock Camp at 2:00a.m.

#noDAPL #Standingrock #native #nativeamerican

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The Security Station at the exit of the Standing Rock Camp.

#standingrock #Standing Rock Sioux #nodapl #pipeline

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October 19, 2016

I woke this morning to the blunt realization of what is in store for those who choose to remain here throughout the winter. The thermometer, hanging inside my tent, read 37 degree F. The skies outside were densely clouded, and a heavy dampness permeated  the air. About 6:00 a.m. a low-flying plane began circling the encampment about every thirty minutes - flying so low that the sound of the whirling propeller could be felt. It is just after noon and the temps have risen to 40 degrees F, but the air is still damp, and the sky heavy with gray. The wind has reduced to a minimum, for the time being, making it far more comfortable inside the tent. The single-engine plane is flying overhead, again, just circling the camp over, and over, again. It is flying somewhat higher, than it did this morning, when it began making rounds about 6:00 a.m. This is part of the intimidation factor that people here have talked about. There are other times when a helicopter takes on the role that the plane now flies. I was surprised to see that the “checkpoint”, that had been situated about 25 miles north, along ND Highway 1806, has now been removed. It was a huge waste of North Dakota taxpayers money, to have it manned 24/7 by State Police, and at times, even the National Guard. The purpose, according to the State of North Dakota, was to “warn” drivers of the impending hazard further down the road (referring to the Standing Rock camp), and suggesting that they detour around it. Just before I left Standing Rock, a few weeks ago, the police had stopped detouring people, and instead were just warning them to watch out for people along the roadside. Walking around the camp, one could see the early stages of winterization, on the tipis, having begun. Large hay bales surrounded the base of the tipis; blocking the wind, and providing insulation a couple of feet high. It has been nearly an hour since the plane began its circling, and still it continues. The slow drone of the reciprocal engine is indeed, annoying - but then again, I have not become immune to its sound. It completes each circling about every 90 seconds. The sun is now making its appearance, ever so slightly, from behind the still heavily clouded sky. The winds are picking up, once again, but at least the warmth of the sun helps to offset the chill. Inside the tent the temperatures have risen significantly because of the sun. I am now able to sit in here with just a sweater.

#Standing Rock Sioux #standingrock #native american #nativeamerican #nativepride #native #nativeamericans #pipeline #nodapl

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I arrived just after 4:00 p.m. local time. I stopped on my way to have a meeting with Jen Martel, at the Visitor’s Center attached to Sitting Bull College, in Fort Yates, North Dakota. She was able to bring me back up to speed with things at the camp, but also gave me great insight into the surrounding communities on the Standing Rock Reservation. When I arrived the temperatures were pleasant, and the sun was shining. Now that the sun has set, the pleasant temperature has disappeared with it. Currently it is somewhere around 10 degrees below cold. The intense North Dakota winds presented a constant challenge as I struggled to set up my tent. At times, the winds laid the tent flat, even with the poles inserted, and attached. Attaching the rain fly reminded me of trying to gather my parachute once I hit the ground in high winds. It was a battle of wits, and pure determination. The encampment had thinned out by about seventy percent, from the last time I was here. Now the adornment of the landscape is predominantly tipis, with the occasional tent, and even an RV camper. The people who have remained, for the most part, are the people who have committed to remain here throughout the winter. During my meeting, with Jen, she stressed the “unity” aspect of what has occurred at the Standing Rock camp - as a result of the pipeline’s attempted incursion into this treaty land. Her concern, as is also the concern of many others, is ‘what will happen to the “unity” when the pipeline issue has gone? This confirmed my intuition, of the past few weeks, as I have repeatedly pondered, and questioned my reasons for returning to Standing Rock.

#Standing Rock Sioux #standingrock #nodapl #native #native american #pipeline

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The Story Behind the Photograph: Rebecca and Shannon

The Story Behind the Photograph: Rebecca and Shannon

It was about 45 minutes before my presentation, at Filter Photo, that I decided to take a walk through the busy streets of downtown Chicago. As I walked past the corner of N.Michigan and Chestnut I noticed a woman doing pushups. Beside her was a handwritten cardboard sign that said: “I will do 10 Full Body Push Ups for $10.00. 1 Push up + $1.00. Donations Against Abuse. All money earned goes to…

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#homeless #chicago #street

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The Story Behind the Photograph: Two Women Mourning

The Story Behind the Photograph: Two Women Mourning

It was Friday morning, the 9th of September, when throngs of people marched from the basecamp, at Standing Rock, 2.3 miles north to the site where bulldozers had desecrated 27 Native graves, dating back more the 100 years. The air was cold, and damp. A strong, and constant wind blew with ferocity – making the chill even more penetrating. A traditional ceremony was performed at the site, which was…

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#native #native american #standingrock #pipeline #northdakota #north dakota #canonball #lakota #standing rock sioux

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Two women gaze solemnly at the burial grounds that had been desecrated by bulldozers several days before.

#standingrock #standing rock sioux #north dakota #native #native american #photograph #photos #photo #photography #photooftheday #documentary photography #documentary #documentaryphotography #Photojournalism. documentary photography #fotos #fotografia #fotoğraf #foto #photo essay #photo story #cultures #culture #nikon #nikonphotography #nppa #no dapl

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Pipeline Standoff in North Dakota: Part One

Pipeline Standoff in North Dakota: Part One

There is so much more to this story than that of a pipeline, although it is the “pipeline” that was the impetus for the other stories to unfold.  There is the story of rights, granted and taken away, repeatedly. There is the story of a Native people that, for the first time, may be coming together as one. There is the story of burial sites being disregarded, and desecrated. There is the story of…

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#standingrock #standing rock sioux #lakota #north dakota #native #native american #documentário #documentary photography #photojournalism #photojourney