I just returned from a two week trip to the Faroe Islands to film some TV ads.  While there, I was able to squeeze in some time to photograph for my “Home” project.  In early October, many Faroese collect their sheep from the mountains and slaughter them.  Families and communities come out to help herd sheep and work in basement abattoirs, receiving meat in return.  It was wonderful to witness people being so involved in the food they will consume.  Having to interact with animals before you kill and eat them is something that feels so far removed from American life today.  The only living things I interact with to get food is waiters and grocery store cashiers.

This trip was also a time when my technical limitations came into play.  I have set rules for myself with this project, a key one being to use only one camera, a large format 4×5.  While this is amazing to work with in some settings, being carried up and down mountains and photographing in dark, crowded basements is not its strong suit.  But this reaffirmed something that I have been thinking through for the last six months: Not everything needs to be photographed.  I think that the best image from this trip to the Faroes, the last in this blogpost, came from the night I shot the least.  I just allowed myself the chance to talk and learn, and then afterwards tried to make a picture that represented what I had seen and heard.  The first five images in this post were made in an attempt to document what was happening in front of me.  The last was made to communicate what I experienced.  This is a new approach for me and one I am excited to try and develop.

Sheep are herded down the mountain | Skáli

Jonhedin holds his lamb | Skáli

Sheep are divided and loaded into cars and trucks | Skáli

After removing a sheep’s head | Kollafjørður

Martin burns the wool off of sheep heads, which will be boiled and eaten | Leynar

Sheep skins sit outside of a slaughterhouse at night | Argir

-b