Metuchen, NJ (June 28, 2016) On Saturday, July 16, 2016, from 9 am to 2 pm, the Metuchen Farmers Market will host a pop-up gallery featuring photographs from photographer and writer Kyo and Janna Morishima’s two-year project documenting a young farmer, Helen Chandler, growing vegetables on her farm, Whistling Wolf, in northwest New Jersey.
The Morishimas are distilling the photographs into a children’s book about “Farmer Helen,” and will be doing a reading for children at 11 am.
“Over the past decade there has been a huge upsurge of interest in buying local foods and supporting local farmers,” Janna Morishima said. “But the foundation of any truly major cultural shift has to start with our kids. That’s why we wanted to do this project: to create images and a story that help kids understand exactly what a local farmer does to bring fresh, delicious food to them.”
“The Farmers Market is thrilled to have this unique event,” said Farmers Market manager Nelson Li. “It’s a rare opportunity for our customers to take a peek ‘behind the scenes’ and see the stages of the farming process, out in the field. Kyo’s photographs really capture that.”
“When Janna first approached me about this project,” explained Helen Chandler, “I was immediately on board. We completely agree about the importance of reaching kids at an early age, to give them a sense of what it means to take care of the earth, and what an incredible bounty the land can provide.”
After the 11 am book reading, the Morishimas will answer questions about the project. “I am very curious to hear how kids respond to the pictures and the story,” Janna Morishima commented. “I can’t wait to see how they react and what kind of questions they have.”
Helen Chandler founded Whistling Wolf Farm in 2012 after studying ecology at Rutgers and apprenticing at several small New Jersey farms. She leases land in Hunterdon County which she has been farming using organic practices for the past four years. For the first several years, she farmed primarily on her own, with occasional part-time help. She is now farming jointly with her husband, Jim Chandler. For more information, visit http://whistlingwolffarm.com.
Kyo and Janna Morishima own Kyo Morishima Photography, a documentary wedding and family photography studio based in Metuchen. Known for his natural, candid style of photography, Kyo started his career as a street photographer and studied Fine Arts at the Corcoran Museum School of Art in Washington, DC. Janna was a children’s book editor at Scholastic before joining Kyo to run their photography business. For more information, visit http://kyomorishima.com.
For more information about the Farmer Helen project and the photography exhibition, visit http://kyomorishima.com/farmer-helen.