Daniel Handal
Kale Harvest at Sister’s Hill Farm, Stanfordville
From the series Between Forest and Field
2009                                               
Chromogenic print
20 x 16 inches
Courtesy of the artist
© Daniel Handal

Daniel Handal’s new body of work-in-progress began with his interest in young farmers working in the Hudson River Valley of New York. A decline in industry had resulted in a severe economic depression in the region in the second half of the twentieth century, at around the same time that the environmental costs of its formerly thriving factories became apparent. Though the Hudson Valley’s moment of glory as the inspiration for America’s Hudson River School of painters in the mid-1800s (who in turn had a strong impact on landscape photography) had long faded, the area’s proximity to Manhattan and its natural resources made it ripe for revival and rising housing costs. As a result, alongside mansions and suburban shopping centers are others with an interest in reconnecting with the river valley’s fertile agricultural history.