Friday, July 30, 2010

Wool Filmmaking


All photographs © Christopher J. Carter 2010.

A Foray Into Community Produced Media

Epilogue:

Just begun the fieldwork stages of a new film on the lifestyle of wool growing in South- Central Montana. Over the next 4 seasons I will be collaborating with a handful of families in Sweetgrass county to capture and tell the story of the wool growing lifestyle.

It is a story of family, tradition, global connectivity and a connection to land and place...at least for now.

Stay tuned for updates over the next year, things are bound to get interesting.




© Christopher J. Carter 2010.

(Above and Below)

The Lair ranch prepares to move irrigation, preparing the fields for a second summer harvest of hay. Pipes and irrigation line are moved twice daily 5-10 meters to ensure coverage and growth.

© Christopher J. Carter 2010.


© Christopher J. Carter 2010.

The scale house and bales of wool sit in a mostly empty wool house. In the course of 100 years wool production has decreased from almost a million pounds a year(1910) to 38,000 in 2010.

© Christopher J. Carter 2010.

Strands of wool strewn across the wool house floor grant evidence of a wool coop sale and shipment a week prior.

© Christopher J. Carter 2010.
Big Timber Wool house interior

© Christopher J. Carter 2010.

Big Timber wool house exterior

© Christopher J. Carter 2010.

Big Timber wool house loading dock, once shipped by train, lower yearly wool production does not yield the need for rail transport. All bales are now transported by truck.

© Christopher J. Carter 2010.

Names and dates of sheepmen , shearers and deputies encase the inner and outer walls of the wool house a testament to over a hundred years of use, the oldest of them dating to the 1910s.

Chao for now,

Christopher J. Carter
July 30th 2010

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Rosin and 8 seconds





An Evening in Wilsall
June 19, 2010

Here are a few shots from a summer photo-j project on rural life in Montana. These were shot between the hours of 6 and 8pm during Saturday bull-riding and roping events at the annual rodeo.

enjoy.

All photographs © Christopher J. Carter 2010.


























All photographs © Christopher J. Carter 2010.