Rural Urban FLOW

Photography and my life are intertwined. My pictures narrate how I move through and engage with the world. This is the story, in pictures, of how I came to be part of Rural Urban FLOW.

In 2018, I was introduced to Fermentation Fest and Farm /Art Dtour, invited to tag along with a tour group from Milwaukee. Wormfarm Institute based in Reedsburg, Wisconsin has produced this ambitious event since 2011.

The lumbering tour bus navigated the narrow, winding back roads of the Driftless Area of rural Sauk County, northwest of Madison, to farm fields where artworks were situated in the landscape. Surprises were over every hill and around every corner. I was so enthralled, I wrote a blog post about the experience and vowed to return.

During later visits, I became acquainted with the people comprising Rural Urban FLOW that grew out of the bus tour visits. Convened by Wormfarm Institute, FLOW is an evolving network of agri/cultural producers initially focused between rural Sauk County and urban Milwaukee, now spanning Southern Wisconsin, Ho-Chunk Nation, and related Indigenous lands.

The network recognizes, supports, and amplifies the interwoven roles that artists, farmers, advocates, and other creators play in the sustainable systems we need now to thrive. FLOW’s work especially celebrates the land upon which we all depend.

With other FLOW participants, I traveled to take part in events like the Farm /Art Dtours in Sauk County and Milwaukee; activities including work days on farms and public lands; and social get-togethers sharing meals. We call these events, activities, meetings and meals: “exchanges.”

This was a unique gathering of people at a crucial time, and I wanted to capture this historic moment. I proposed the FLOW Environmental Portrait Project to create informal portraits in landscapes meaningful to each person.

I used my vintage Hasselblad film camera, probably for the last time. The pictures seen here in digital form also exist physically in black-and-white prints that I made in the darkroom and gifted to each participant.

The following portraits introduce some members of the FLOW network. The portraits are paired with color photographs of the Sauk County Farm /Art Dtours as well as those in Milwaukee, and one of our work days, to provide context and give you a sense of our exchanges and the deep friendships that have evolved.

Some of the FLOW network member’s favorite landscapes are beloved places in nature.

FLOW network activities include occasional work days where many hands pitching in, and chance conversations, make short work of a tedious but ultimately rewarding task.

I set up Regina’s Photo Booth at the Milwaukee Farm /Art Dtour in 2023 and at Witwen Campground along Honey Creek during Fermentation Fest and Farm /Art Dtour in Sauk County in 2023 and 2024. Good locations to catch some of the busy people who participate in FLOW.

Some of the FLOW network members’s favorite landscapes are close to home.

Farm /Art Dtour covers about 50 miles through the rolling countryside of the Driftless Area between Sauk City and Plain, Wisconsin. Witwen Campground is the hub for food and entertainment in the approximate center of the route. Musical performances, poetry readings, and topical panels about farming and food are presented in the historic Tabernacle building. I set up my Photo Booth along Honey Creek to make portraits at Witwen in 2023 and 2024.