86-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 23, 2000
Preserving Farmland, One
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Paging through the book,
“Farm Life,” familiar images in
stark black and white capture
the essence of agriculture. Can
ning jars, corn fields draped in
snow, hay wagons, families at
work, fruit, and farm cats either
educate or bring back fond mem
ories of working the land for the
reader.
The dedication, “For the farm
families of Lancaster County,
stewards of the soil,” is a dedi
cation that sets the tone for the
call for land preservation that re
sounds through the entire book.
The pictures, taken by Lancas
ter native Gini Woy, formerly
Gini Wagner, are woven among
the interviews with seven farm
families that make up the chap
ters of the book. Quotes that tout
the importance of preserving
farmland are laced among the
pictures.
The book, “Lancaster County
Farm Life Farming Families
And Their Commitment To The
Land” was four years in the
making.
A booklet in Vermont caught
the eye of Karen Weiss, former
director of land preservation at
Lancaster Farmland Trust. At
the time Woy was considering
the idea of shooting photographs
for fund-raising note cards, so
the concept of a book for preser
vation fund-raising became a re
ality.
Sara Barton, also from Lan
caster, wrote the descriptive copy
that accompanies the pictures.
Barton interviewed the families
and teamed up with her father, a
veterinarian and member of the
Farmland Trust board, to draft
the colorful quotes that capture
farm life in words.
“Farm Life” is largely a volun
teer effort, part of what makes
the project so appealing, said
Woy. The film, paper to print the
pictures, writing, design, and
prepress preparations were do
nated to the project. A fund-rais
ing reception at the Pressroom
Restaurant, Lancaster, paid for
printing costs. The book was
printed in Korea for greatest cost
efficiency.
“It’s hard to remember every
one who has given to it,” said
Woy. “One thing that still over
whelms me is all the people who
gave freely to it.”
Money from the sales goes to a
separate account which tracks
cost and profit.
“When the book came back
from Korea ready to be sold, all
the money was able to go back to
the Trust,” said Woy. “We were
pretty proud of that accomplish
ment. It’s a good selling tool,
too.”
Woy herself took vacation
days and weekends to shoot the
photographs. She estimates that
she took 60-70 rolls of film to get
the pictures for the book.
“I don’t think I ever had so
much fun on my vacation days
as I did shooting photographs on
those farms,” said Woy. “I feel
like I have a special connection
to each family.
“It’s a labor of love for all of
lis involved. We are all very
proud of it.”
Weiss chose the seven families
highlighted in the book. “She
chose families dedicated to pres
ervation and able to tell their
story in an interesting way,” said
Woy. “They are also scattered all
over the county, because we
wanted to represent each area of
Lancaster County.
Photographing farm families
posed an enjoyable challenge to
Woy. Using only silhouettes
helped Woy capture an Amish
family. “The families were all
happy and willing to participate
because they believe in what
they’re doing.
“I don’t think
they had a full un
derstanding of
what it was going
to be like to have
me follow them
around,” said Woy
with a laugh. She
rode in a combine,
took pictures dur
ing dinner, and fol
lowed around farm
animals to capture
the pictures which
grace the pages of
the book.
“I wanted to
show every aspect
of farming that I
could. I just kept
my eyes open and
grabbed scenes as I
saw them. I tried to
immerse myself,”
she said of the
many hours she
spent at the farms.
“They couldn’t get
rid of me. I easily
spent eight hours
there, and most of
the time I went
back more than
once.”
“I tried to represent different
seasons, because I think that is
part of the beauty of this area.
Each season brings something
unique,” said Woy.
Although the seasons and
farm life do provide excellent op
portunity for color photos, Woy,
whose first love with photogra
phy is black and white, chose the
medium for the book.
“I felt the black and white
worked the best with the subject
matter. It has a more natural ap
pearance and keeps with the
theme of the book. It allows one
to look at the composition.”
Besides the insightful pictures
and copy, the small details,
according to Woy, help to make
the book a standout. The green,
textured end sheets were chosen
for their similarity to a tobacco
leaf. The end sheets with wheat
superimposed on translucent
paper also lend a quality touch to
the book.
However, “There are still
things that I would change about
it,” said Woy. “That’s what
makes you continue to grow.”
Woy is already entertaining
ideas for a book about farm
women. “I need to see this one
out a before I move onto other
projects,” she said. “There’s a lot
of marketing to do.”
“Farm Life” has been avail
able to the public for a month.
With completion of the book,
marketing strategies have be
come the main focus. To contrib
ute to the project, Turkey Hill
stores are selling the book with
all proceeds going to the Trust.
Provident, Barnes and Noble,
and Borders book stores also
carry the book. Advertisements
( i It’s a labor of love for all of us involved.
We are all very proud of it. 5
have also appeared in Lancaster
Farming.
Volunteers have also handed
out fliers advertising the book in
downtown Lancaster to comple
ment sales at Central Market’s
community stand. Additionally,
Woy plans to hold more book
signings. She will exhibit and sell
prints from the book the evening
of Feb. 22 at an art reception
and book signing. The exhibit,
open to the public, will take
place at Landis Homes.
“There has been so many peo
ple willing to help us out to
promote it,” said Woy. “It
makes me feel good that people
not only say, ‘Oh, that’s such a
nice book,’ but also say that it’s
for a good cause.
“When we were conceptualiz
ing it, we debated whether to sell
it or hand it out. It’s a tool for
preservation and education on
why preservation is important,
so if can accomplish both of
those missions, we can’t ask for
any more; it’s doing its job.’
“I like it when people look at
the images, read the quotes, and
say, T didn’t know that,”’ she
said. “When people start to un
derstand how hard these farmers
are working.
“Some people are buying the
book as a gift for parents who
grew up on a farm and have
warm memories of the farm life
the nostalgia aspect of it,”
said Woy.
The book is also going inter-
Book At A Time
These photographs appear in the book, available at
bookstores, Turkey Hill stores, and Lancaster Farmland
Trust. All proceeds help the Trust preserve Lancaster
farms.
national, as buyers of the book
are sending it to clients, universi
ties, or friends in such countries
as Sweden, Germany, Japan,
and England.
This spring, the Trust plans to
market the book more towards
tourist industry.
Gini Woy
Photographer, “Farm Life”
Reared in Lancaster County,
Woy learned to love the area
through firsthand experience.
“I’ve always loved this area. I
think when we were kids (she
has one older sister and a youn
ger brother and sister), the seeds
were planted. When I Was about
10 to 14 years old, we would
spend our summers on Amish
farms. My mother made ar
rangements with the Amish gen
tlemen that she worked with so
we could stay during the day.
Gini Woy, formerly Gini Wagner, shot the striking
black-and-white pictures for “Farm Life,” a book sold by
the Lancaster Farmland Trust. “It tells the stories of
preservation and also stories of what it’s like to live on a
farm in Lancaster County,” she said. “I think it makes
people feel good to buy something that preser
vation.”
“I loved it. That is a life expe
rience I 'would never change.
That’s where I learned to bake
bread and do canning. We
worked in the fields with them
and developed lifelong friend
ships. It really made me appreci
ate this area.”
With aspirations of becoming
a reporter, Woy earned a degree
in English from Millersville Uni
versity. To gain experience in the
journalism field, she began writ
ing for the school’s newspaper.
Because of shorthanded staff
ing at the newspaper, she soon
began to shoot photographs on
assignment, an aspect of journal
ism which quickly became her
favorite. “It was a natural fit for
me,” said Woy.
After college Woy headed to
Philadelphia to attend Antonelli
Institute in Philadelphia, a pho
tography school, for two years.
After graduating from Anto
nelli Institute, Woy returned to
Lancaster to work at a photo
studio before moving into her
present job as a commercial/
industrial photographer for God
frey Advertising, where she has
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