Tags

As I tagged (about 1900) photos from the Farmers Market, years after I recorded them, I noticed that the number of tags of fruits and vegetables ranged from two to 107. Cabbage, root crops, and squash were on the high end of the range partly because they included many culinary and decorative varieties that spanned the market season. Apples, berries, and corn fell into the middle of the range as single varieties because of the lengths of their seasons and because of their photogenic qualities. Others with equally photogenic properties were represented in smaller quantities mostly due to their shorter growing seasons. Flowers were represented abundantly because they attract cameras, and because they were at the market from the first day (cut and plants) to the last (dried). And I noticed that cars, trains, and farmers’ signs and crates were well represented in my collection because those are things that caught my photographic eye. And, of course, patriotism became abundant in September of 2001. The following tags help me find specific subject information about:

Flowers, bulbs, seeds, in pots, cut, dried, delighting the senses . . .

20010531_dsc00035

Apples galore, by the bushel . . .

20010908_dsc00024

Berries, bounty of our local fruit culture . . .

20010615_dsc00040

Cabbage, large and small, on and off the stalk . . .

20010920_dsc00194

Maize, sweet corn and Indian corn . .

20010717_dsc000451

Root crops, reminding us of how they grew . . .

20010714_dsc00054

Squash, summer, winter, ornamental . . .

20010728_dsc00157

Cars, interesting and colorful rides to the market . . .

20010717_dsc00041

Trains, some of my favorites . . .

20010807_dsc00095

Farmers’ crates, containers, display stands, brands . . .

20010818_dsc00185

Signs of time and place . . .

20011110_dsc00004

Patriotism followed September 11th 2001 . . .

20010921_dsc00098

These photos grouped by subject, and generally arrayed by time, are my narratives of different views of the market. I notice how the color palette of flowers changes throughout the season. I notice that berries appear in my photos in June and disappear in August; apples begin appearing in my photos in August and continue through the end of the market season, etc. I notice that the sweet corn we began enjoying in August continued into the beginning of September, and that sweet corn was replaced by Indian corn by the end of September. Squash that we like to eat is flanked by squash that we like to carve by the end of the season. Farmer’s signs mark the passage of time and the progression of the season. Another person’s photographic point of view would yield different information about the 2001 Farmers Market season. Consider the information value of storytelling from many different points of view of all times and all places.