American Farmer
By: Katrina Fried (Editor)
Paul Mobley (Photographer)
"Paul Mobley started out looking to take some great portraits of farmers and ranchers and captured so much more in his travels through rural America. His photographs depict American agriculture’s recent past, its present and its future, often in the same photograph. And more poignantly, for urban folks, he put a face on the men and women whose love for the land runs deep, and who toil every day to feed their fellow citizens."
— Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation
When photographer Paul Mobley set out to capture the soul of our country’s farm communities, he encountered an enduring rural culture that remains rooted in the principles of tradition, family, integrity and hard work. Traveling across the country from Tennessee to Montana, Mobley and his camera were welcomed time and again into the homes of over two hundred farm families, who graciously shared their personal histories and private thoughts, along with the fruits of their labor. Visit after visit, Mobley came to know the independent farmer’s spirit from both behind the lens and across the dinner table.
The result is the first portrait collection of modern American farmers ever published to reach so deeply and gracefully into its subject. Images are accompanied by short and revealing first person narratives, told in the farmers’ own words, that offer an intimate look inside the hardships and joys of a quickly disappearing way of life––one that once defined our national identity and now struggles to remain vital. From Walter Jackson, a 104-year-old Florida citrus farmer; to Patsy Fribley, a stockyard dealer from Montana; to Aaron Bell, a young 9th generation organic dairy farmer in Maine, Mobley’s exquisite photographs reveal the true face of American farming and remind us what it means to live with simplicity, contentment, and decency in a world that so often forgets.
States included: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Katrina Fried Editor
KATRINA FRIED has edited, written, and produced numerous titles, including most recently, On the Street and The Fourth Wall by Amy Arbus (Welcome Books); Los Angeles by Tim Street-Porter (Rizzoli); The Hollywood Dictionary by Timothy Gray (Variety); Cinema by the Bay (Lucas Books); and Shoe Fleur: A Footwear Fantasy (Welcome Books). She lives and works in New York City.
Paul Mobley Photographer
PAUL MOBLEY’S early training as a photographer began at Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies, and continued in the New York studios of such leading photographers as Annie Leibovitz and David Langley, where he apprenticed for many years before embarking on his own career. Mobley has successfully worked with a broad range of corporate, advertising, and editorial clients, including American Express, Sony, Citigroup, Ford, Compaq, Gourmet, Max Factor, Chevrolet, Microsoft, and many others. Mobley lives in New York City and Michigan with his wife Suzanne, and their two wonderful daughters, Camden and Paige.
