Artist Statement

As society has changed over the last thirty years, so has the way that our culture views food, and the way that human beings connect with food has altered drastically. We now drive through an archway for a quick meal between jobs. We no longer take the time to use all of our senses while eating or preparing a meal. Growing, picking and preserving are activities of the past. Somehow, over the last generation, the perceived value of slowly prepared foods and the expectations regarding food preparation and the understanding of the importance of using fresh ingredients has diminished. Yet the local farms of the Hudson Valley are still plowing forward. 

This body of work encompasses raw ingredients from Hudson Valley farms. Over the last two summers, I visited multiple farms and documented their fresh produce as it was waiting to be picked, purchased and preserved in an attempt to show real food in its natural environment. This project is ongoing and ever evolving; and the next phase will include portraits of the modern farmer, freshly dug produce and scenes from around the farm, such as farm animals and equipment. In contrast, a photo collage of fast food and frozen meals is also in the works to show the clear difference between homemade meals made with fresh and natural ingredients and those flash frozen with preservatives and chemicals. Through my photographs, I will continue to explore the local vs. the global food system, the connections humans have with food and nature, and the myriad of emotions evoked by our relationship with food. 

  
I’ve chosen to explore the changes in our food system because what we eat not only impacts the health and welfare of human beings on a global level, it also very much affects our local environment and communities. Therefore, supporting local food and farms means that the consumer is getting the best food possible, less emissions are being pumped into our atmosphere, and less energy is being wasted. Local farmers work extremely hard to bring fresh and quality food to the community and without the continued hard work of the farmer, we would rely on and ingest more and more chemical-based substances that could adversely impact our bodies. As they have for centuries, food and people go hand in hand. Together, they connect us and this is the reason that we talk with our mouths full. 

-Samantha Seeley, 2016

Bio: Samantha Seeley is a food and lifestyle photographer, recipe developer and blogger. She has been published in a variety of publications, most notably The Valley Table magazine, covering restaurant week in the Hudson Valley. Samantha graduated from SUNY Orange in 2013 and is currently a student pursing her bachelors degree in Multimedia Production. In June of 2013, she was a speaker at the BlogHer Food conference on a panel titled Pro Food Photography on the Fly. Her food blog, Sweet Remedy is an account of her food centered life filled with sweet and savory recipes.