Michael Stanfill and Professor Paul Adams, Photography

This project ended up being an extraordinary experience for me. I learned a number of things that will be invaluable to me as I go through life. I learned why I take pictures, and how I take pictures. I learned so much about the people that I took pictures of. I’ll explain all of this as I go through and explain my successes, frustrations, and solutions to those frustrations.

For my project, I went up to Montana, and spent a total of 3.5 weeks there in three separate trips. The first trip was a week, the second was a week and half, and the third was another week. Things went smoother with each trip. The largest frustration that I had was that of time. I had planned on shooting four to five ranchers a day while I was there the first time. I ended up having one or two ranchers done by the end of the day, each day. I was flat out aggravated after the first couple of days, but then upon further examination, I realized that it was much better. Each time I explained to a rancher what I was doing, I was invited to spend the day with them, and not just watch them work, but get to know their families, eat lunch with them, go on walks with them on their land that they love so much. As soon as I was able to relax, and enjoy the time that I was spending with them, the images came easier, and images were better. Another thing that was nice was once someone was comfortable with me, they were more than willing to refer me to their friends, and I think that I got much more diversity then if I’d just driven around asking random strangers if I could take their pictures. So what I thought was a curse at first ended up being a blessing, and I had some of the best experiences with some of these families only after I’d spent six hours with them.

The schedule changed when I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to shoot five or six ranchers a day, and my methods of preservation are slightly different than what I originally proposed. I do have 12 prints, and they are almost ready to go up to Montana to be displayed in the Sacagawea Gallery in Stevensville, MT. They will go up in May. Once they have been shown there in the Gallery in Stevensville, I will be seeking space in other galleries to get them out into the public. The other thing that I’ve decided to do with these photos is to make a book out of these photos and submit one copy to BYU’s library, and another to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.. I spoke earlier of wanting to make sure that the pictures were preserved, and while that goal is still in force, I would also like the photos to be accessible for anyone who would like to see them. I couldn’t think of two better places for these photos to be preserved then the fortresses that we call our BYU Library and the Library of Congress. This will also be much more accessible than my basement will be. The books will be printed on acid free glossy paper and have solid hard covers to protect them.

As for my own growth, I learned a bunch about myself and how and why I take pictures. You’ll forgive me of this quick personal story, I feel that it would be unfair not to explain this discovery. When I was younger, I would often ask my Grandfather if I could have things that belonged to him. I’m afraid I wasn’t bashful about it and I’d often ask him if I could have something right after I’d found out what it was. This annoyed my Grandfather somewhat (imagine having to explain to a 7 year old why he can’t have the keys to your Cadillac) and it frustrated my parents. I think that the reasons for my asking my Grandfather to have things and why I photograph are essentially the same. When I was younger, I think that I would determine what was of value to my Grandfather, and then I would ask him for it. I wanted so badly for his life to be part of mine, and I had no qualms about asking for items that would aid in that process. On one of the trips up there, I took the opportunity to visit my Grandfather, and while I was there, I took many pictures of him, and I took pictures of just about every square inch of his home, garden and workshop. He even encouraged me to take some of the photos that I did, and never did I have to ask permission. What a change! I was able to take a little bit of my Grandfather with me in a way that I’ve never been able to do before. It was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. Once I realized this, I took that thought process with me as I photographed others. I noticed the values have changed though, instead of someone’s pocket knife, I photograph their face to try and get a little bit of their wisdom, knowledge, and experience. Instead of a Cadillac, I photographed their family. And instead of a .22 rifle, I photographed the land that they had worked so hard to cultivate and nourish. I get to take a little bit of what was important to them home with me, and I hope it’s what people will see when they look at these photographs.

I think that it is fair to say that I want to continue with this project. I only scratched the surface of how much story is there, and I have so much more to learn. I did make a small detour up into the Flathead Valley to visit some old ranchers there, and I have some referrals in Helena that I feel that I must pursue. One particular instance made it apparent that I need to keep going with the project. One of the farmers that I photographed (a pine tree farmer, to be specific) died a couple of weeks ago. When I was there, he invited me into his home, and I spent the day with him, his wife, and two grand-daughters. I got the tour of his beautiful land, and he told me about his grand kids, and he even made me grilled cheese sandwiches and kool-aid as we talked. I feel that some of the strongest images I shot came from him. It brought earlier statements that I had made to mind: That these men are a dying breed. I was extremely lucky to spend the time with this generous man that I did. I’ll be sending some photos to his wife to keep, as these were the last photos taken of him before he passed away.

So, I believe that the project was very successful for a couple of reasons. I feel that I fulfilled my promises as stated in my proposal. These photos will be adequately protected for years and years to come, and accessible to the public. Perhaps more importantly for me though is that the project will continue even after this report has been submitted, after the books have been published, and the initial 12 prints have been shown and taken down and put in a dark place to be protected. I will continue to document this noble group of people while they are still around to document. Thanks for helping me get started.