In an effort to escape hustle and bustle of his urban life, the photographer Jake Stangel contacted Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. WWOOF, as it's more commonly known, links volunteers with organic farmers to "promote an educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices." WWOOF connected Stangel with a couple who operate an organic farm in Central Florida, where he spent two weeks learning how to work with his hands and till some land.
"I had this desire to leave the urban environment, to ditch the computer and the phone" says Stangel, who lives in Portland, Oregon. "I got to work a handful of other people—to use my hands and power tools—on this beautiful farm in the middle of nowhere."
Although he may have left the computer at home, he brought his camera with him, and he documented his work with remarkable imagery. What follows is a selection from Jake Stangel's "Florida Farming."
Adjacent road to the farm, foggy morning
Bringing sheep to pasture, early morning
Hens and rooster
Neighbors- Erica and Kalai
Storage barn
Cold morning turns into a hot afternoon
Erica picks tangerines
Cupcake
Alexis (sheep) dies suddenly in the pasture of worms
Rusted woven fence, to be brought to the scrap center