Untitled #15 (the Farm Series)

Sugar and sugarcane are the business of this landholding family we visited one weekend in Pirris, near Parrita, Costa Rica.

This lovely woman is seated on cane, munching on cane, and gazes out at the vast expanse of sugarcane before her.

This photo is taken in the trapiche of their farm. A trapiche is the place where you extract the juice from the cane. It’s done with giant millstones using oxen to turn the stones that grind the cane. The oxen walk in endless circles. Someone must also walk in the same endless circles with the oxen to ensure they keep moving.

It’s quiet work. It’s slow and steady and leaves plenty of time to think, to dream.

Originally published May 20, 2014