I recall that every time my cousin, who is a farmer, would call to inquiry about the news (from the forgetful city dwellers that we are) and I asked him the same in return, I would get : “Just the usual,” “Nothing going on, same old, same old,” “There’s a little work on the farm at the moment”... It made me think of the line from Thornton Wilder: “Daily life, daily life, daily life.”

At the end of 2009 we were flooded with news around the clock : the milk crisis, the failure of dairy farms, suicide among the farmers... My contact at the photo agency in Paris suggested that I go get what are called “illustrations” (long shots, behind the scenes shots, etc.) at the farms where I live. This might produce some sales. Making clichéd shots of that type didn't interest me very much, but on the other hand I was eager to discover the so-called “ordinary” world of the farmer.

So with this background and with this aim in mind, I charged up the Tarn to the home of my friend the dairy farmer to photograph him and his wife during their daily work. It was the season of peak milk production and I was struck by heavy load of work, all the sundry tasks for which you must have all kinds of skills. I began calling them “super heros” and we planned to go on with the documentation. This way I could show the work that goes on in the fields in order to feed his herd of forty cows around the year.

"Covering” the total work done on the farm over the course of a year would take me double that amount of time because during the interval I traveled for 8 months by bike in West Africa (see the West Africa reports).

My "requirements" when it came time to select the images were basically : to document the extensive activities that are carried out by a farmer on a family farm (of the type you find throughout the country and which make up part of the specifically Frenchy model of farming), the techniques in use in 2011, and to chronicle a little bit the life it entails.

The last time that we ate together and I was brought up-to-date on the political “dossier” concerning milk production, the cousin told me that the financial situation was a little better than it was in 2009 and 2010 but the view ahead was only about 6 months. What will happen following the upcoming reform of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) ?

I see all this as a metaphor of our lives today : that we become farmers or that we are working in the fields of a new virtual economy. It used to be, in an agricultural world, that the profession of dairy farmer was considered noble and financially stable (because of milk quotas). One could have a little peace of mind. Today things are more precarious: accused of being poisoners and polluters they must, just to keep their heads above water, they produce milk and cereal at maximum volume, continue to educate themselves, invest (why not in biogenetics?). In short, to be constantly under suspicion, thrown in the breach, without really much of a safety net.

Is it human to put so much pressure on people? Is it wise, when we have more than 10% unemployment and the production of food is vital (on a planet with more and more people and with limited resources) that dedicated farmers should simply give up? In the course of making this report, it was not uncommon for me to hear of a neighbours who had quit.

What will become of the countryside if the amalgamation of farmland continues and if only the huge “agro-business” remain ?

I recall that every time my cousin, who is a farmer, would call to inquiry about the news (from the forgetful city dwellers that we are) and I asked him the same in return, I would get : “Just the usual,” “Nothing going on, same old, same old,” “There’s a little work on the farm at the moment”... It made me think of the line from Thornton Wilder: “Daily life, daily life, daily life.”

At the end of 2009 we were flooded with news around the clock : the milk crisis, the failure of dairy farms, suicide among the farmers... My contact at the photo agency in Paris suggested that I go get what are called “illustrations” (long shots, behind the scenes shots, etc.) at the farms where I live. This might produce some sales. Making clichéd shots of that type didn't interest me very much, but on the other hand I was eager to discover the so-called “ordinary” world of the farmer.

So with this background and with this aim in mind, I charged up the Tarn to the home of my friend the dairy farmer to photograph him and his wife during their daily work. It was the season of peak milk production and I was struck by heavy load of work, all the sundry tasks for which you must have all kinds of skills. I began calling them “super heros” and we planned to go on with the documentation. This way I could show the work that goes on in the fields in order to feed his herd of forty cows around the year.