The Story Behind The Image: “The Classic (Modern) Swiss Farm Scene”.

The drive by shooting (photographically speaking) of a scene I witnessed over time resulted in the interesting contrast between the old and new(er).

Side Note: Even though images are all around us, we rarely delve deeper into how an image came to be. As such, in this series, I share the stories behind some of my images. You can read the complete (growing) series here.

I love the contrast of the old and new in this image (read on to find out why).

I must have driven past the scene above dozens of times during Winter, on my way to work.

It still is a vivid memory:

Early morning.

Just enough light for making handheld images.

Bitterly cold (I recall something like -13°C).

And the farmer is once again parked outside his shed with his classic short wheelbase Land Rover.

How dare he distract me like that again?!

I could visualise the image in my head.

I knew what to do to capture it.

But I couldn’t bring myself to stop the car and do it (“no time” - you know?).

Finally, after many drive by’s and passing up on making the image due to convincing myself there’s no time to stop, I overcame my self-imposed limitations and took the leap.

I stopped the car.

But in a safe place (I’m responsible, sometimes) a little way past from where I wanted to make the image.

Grabbed my camera (usually in the car with me).

It was already in the ballpark in terms of settings.

Longer focal length to compress the scene (fancy speak for bringing the foreground elements and background elements closer together - an aspect of longer focal length lenses).

Got out and walked the few hundred meters back to my (hastily) scouted location, hands already burning from the cold.

Held the camera to my eye, and made the frames I had in mind.

It was perfect, that bloody scene.

Well, I suppose you can see the image above and decide for yourself.

But why do I think so?

Well, you see, farming in the Swiss Alps has largely stayed the same for generations. And it still is very much hands on, with what would be considered ancient technology (or none at all) by many people in other parts of the world.

There are some exceptions, as the image from this week's post illustrates.

And that’s what makes this such a classic scene for me.

You have the traditional part.

There are the wooden stakes - used for fencing in summer - neatly stacked on the side of the shed (behind the Land Rover). All cut and carved by hand. From local tree wood. By the farmer himself (no such thing as farm labour here, unless it’s family helping out).

Then you have the modern part.

Instead of horses (still used occasionally) or a very old beat up Subaru (the “Farmer’s Ferrari” as they call it here), you have a well maintained classic Land Rover Defender in front of it all.

I just fell in love with the scene when I first saw it.

So maybe I’m biased.

But hey, it’s my blog / newsletter and I can like an image if I want to!

Importantly, I was also reminded that to take action (and stop being afraid) is much better than wondering what could have been.

Prints, anyone?

That’s it for this week, hope you enjoyed a little insight into the story behind the image!

Do you have any interesting stories to share?

Simply hit reply and let me know / comment below.

Have a great week!

PS - This is an ongoing series of sharing the stories behind a selection of my images. Read the original post that kicked off the series (and with more background info) here.

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Until next time ✌🏽.

Cornelius

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