Hayley Gault is a sheep farmer working on her family farm in East Antrim.
Commissioned by NI Mental Health Arts Festival, this series of images in the theme of "Gather" highlight the seasonal and generational gathering of animals and grass and the ever present pressures and anxieties that impact farmers.
Gault is interested in the social, historical, nutritional and sustainable values of animal agriculture, food production and eating, as well
as the knowledge of rural and natural systems that is inherently embodied in
farmers.
The unique working relationship between humans and non-humans is of huge value to society and once gone, would be very difficult to replace.
Documenting her daily work through photography, her images reflect the complexities, struggles and triumphs in farming life.
From bales of wool, a labour intensive but now profitless by-product to the reliance on, yet unpredictability of the weather and the physicality (and often danger) involved in the work and the isolation of the rural environment.
Larne Museum & Arts Centre
9th-15th May 2022