It’s been a very busy couple years and I must admit, as I think is the case with many photographers, posting regularly is my absolute challenge! I am determined to share with you what I have been up to the last couple years; the places I have been to and the people I have met in the way of agriculture.
I’ve been North and South, West and East and have clocked up some triple k’s on my vehicle! On top of that I have had some big life changes and new beginnings; I’m also a mother of two ‘superb’ kids, I have travelled far and wide to photograph agriculture all over South Africa and I have recently started a new project which explores the human condition, something that sets my soul on fire! So far, it’s taken me to Joburg, East London and Ukraine and it’s only just the beginning!
I feel gratitude for everything I have experienced these last couple years, both the good and difficult, because of what I have learned through it. These last two years have been about ‘personal growth’ for me and I feel it in all aspects of my life, including my agricultural photography. I don’t think it’s by accident that the subject I choose to photograph most, is about ‘growth,’ most often in the way of a plant! Through my agricultural photography, I have met many passionate people who experience ‘joy’ because of what they do; they plant, they cultivate, they nurture and they watch something grow overtime, because of what they do. This, I think, is what a farmer ultimately gets from farming. Farming is often about the ‘joy’ of watching something you plant ‘grow’ and then it grows into something that you can reap, because of your attention to ‘growth and nurturing.’
On this particular Pannar Seed shoot, I met a family that is all about ‘growth.’ It was inspiring for me to hear their story. To hear how they started and how the family have grown, how each family member studied something that will enhance or add value to the business, all of them dedicated to their vision for LFC Meule. That day I had been commissioned by Pannar Seed to photograph their agricultural operations of harvesting maize and planting wheat. Out of interest I wanted to see their mill, to understand the full story – from plant to product. I was given a full tour of their maize mill, a mill that was going through a major upgrade at the time and that will ultimately see a ‘vision’ come true, that not only focuses on supplying South Africa, but Africa too.
On these Pannar photography tours, I not only learn about the business of grain, I learn about farmers and I see a group of passionate people, passionate about what they do. On these shoots, I have the privilege of capturing that ‘passion’ in a visual form. I get to photograph growth, the love of farming, the joy, the struggle, the commitment – I get to see the story of farming and tell it to you with photography, from beginning to end and everything in the middle.
Lianne Ashton Photography 
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