FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FarmHer Photographs of Women In Agriculture To Be Featured At USDA Event For National Ag Day 2015
Urbandale, Iowa (February 17, 2015) – A selection of photographs featuring women working in various agricultural roles, taken by Marji Guyler-Alaniz of Urbandale, Iowa, will be featured during the National Ag Day activities at USDA in Washington, DC on March 18, 2015.
Guyler-Alaniz has spent nearly two years documenting the important role that women play in agriculture throughout the U.S. for her long-term FarmHer project. Through FarmHer, Guyler-Alaniz has a goal of updating the image of agriculture to include women by photographing women from all aspects of agriculture. She shares those images through online and traditional media, as well as on the website, www.FarmHer.com. These images include women from large and small farms, working with traditional and non-traditional crops and livestock, and from all ages and walks of life.
“Women have always played an integral role in our agriculture systems but have been largely undocumented,” Guyler-Alaniz said. “Until recently, farm imagery has shown mostly the male aspect of agriculture. Through FarmHer I have the lofty goal of changing the landscape and bringing these images of women to the forefront. By doing this I hope to make an impact on how we as a nation, and world, view agriculture.”
According to the latest agriculture census, 14 percent of the nation’s 2.1 million farms are operated principally by women, and 30 percent of total farm operators (primary and secondary) are women. The number of women counted in the ag census has grown in the past decade and Guyler-Alaniz saw a need for this reality to be reflected in agriculture imagery.
The showing at USDA will featured 10 sets of FarmHer images and will be on display during National Ag Day, March 18, 2015, in the USDA headquarters at 1400 Independence Avenue, Washington, DC. In addition to the display Guyler-Alaniz will also be speaking about the project at USDA as part of the activities surrounding Ag Day. For more information about National Ag Day and to register for this event, visit the Ag Day website at: http://agday.org/media/pr14.php
Marji Guyler-Alaniz, President and Founder of FarmHer, received a Minor in Photography, along with a Major in Graphic Journalism at Grand View University in 2001. She then worked for more than a decade, most recently as the Risk Manager, for one of the largest crop insurance companies in the U.S. prior to founding FarmHer. Her agribusiness experience, coupled with family ties to agriculture, ignited her interest in documenting these women through FarmHer.
FarmHer has been featured in many media outlets including: Successful Farming Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Fast Company Magazine, agriculture.com, Mary Jane’s Farm Magazine, Huffington Post, Public Television, Harvest Public Media, Modern Farmer, a multitude of newspapers throughout the world and more. In addition to sharing these images through online and traditional media, FarmHer images have also been featured in a variety of gallery displays, will soon be available as a traveling outreach exhibit and are available as stock photography.
Contact
To learn more about FarmHer contact:
Marji Guyler-Alaniz
Office: (515) 918-9540
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