RedGroundDarkFire
Red Ground, Dark Fire
A Chronicle of Tobacco Raising from Seed to sale
Red Ground, Dark Fire is a photographic narrative centered on Dark Fire tobacco growing in Allensville, Kentucky. The book will illuminate and elevate the communal culture that surrounds tobacco growing by creating a publication that is engaging to both rural farmers and city dwellers alike. A photojournalistic narrative, using images to showcase the processes, people, and culture of growing tobacco, will be the central feature of the book, alongside storytelling prose and observational vignettes from a year spent visiting the farm.
The project centers primarily on the tobacco fields of Winston Gill. Having practically learned to walk amidst the rows of towering tobacco, and driving tractors long before he reached middle school, his experiences are an indispensable function of the farming ecosystem in Allensville, Kentucky. Nestled in the Western rung of the tobacco belt, suitable weather patterns and nutrient-rich red soil creates the perfect environment for Dark Fire tobacco growing. Rich green-leafed tobacco plants stick out amongst the corn and soybean fields lining the roadways, and have become a nostalgic site for anyone who grew up in tobacco country. Tobacco is unique among many large-scale crop operations as it has almost completely reached its ceiling of mechanization, resulting in most of the work being accomplished by rigorous hand labor. Teams of immigrant workers, largely from Mexico, arrive in May and make their home in the rural countryside until the labor is finished in December. For several of Gill’s men, Allensville has been their home of seasonal employment for well over a decade. Their labor contributions and manpower carry tobacco production from start to finish, making them an indispensable piece of the story. Tobacco as an agricultural commodity is interesting, because the crop is grown purely for controversial recreational use, and not for food, livestock feed, or fiber. However, despite its layered history, raising tobacco has become a familial legacy for many in the tobacco belt, its processes and practices passed down through generations. This book will entertain some of the questions, assumptions, labor issues, and charged historical events involved in tobacco growing in this region.
A foreword by Allensville resident Justin Adams will set the scene, and introduce the value and virtue of rural communal living. The book will also feature sketches by artist Thomas Griffith, Winston’s nephew. The book will weave in the legacy of farming in the Gill family, and touch on how that reverence and longevity lends itself to a collective cherished memory of life on the Farm. The readership of this book will reach those who have settled in rural areas, as well as those interested in agricultural practices, processes, and bucolic scenes.
Project completion date of January 1, 2023. Currently pursuing book and editorial publication opportunities.
Gallery debut set for January, 2023 in Jackson, TN.
Photographer, Cari Griffith.
