Crackerfarm
Photography by Crackerfarm
Words by Marcel Dagenais

The standard of beauty has reached a new pinnacle in society. With the advent of technology in both photographs and reality – the truism of a picture is only as true as the skilled hand of the photo-shopper. Skin turns to porcelain, fat turns to bone, and what once was a human is now an alien life force – an expectation, a pressure to become something we can’t be.

It’s exactly what Crackerfarm is against. The farm, like many, is producing something of the land, something real and capturing something actual. It’s the counter-culture to the counter-culture, a back hand to the modernization of “photography” and the images everyone uploads to their Facebook account.  

Working Class had a chance to sit down with Cracker (aka Mike Beyer) at the Crackerfarm to talk about what is going on at their live/work space and what they represent. From the aesthetics of the environment they work in, the vibe is a little bit country, a little urban, and really fucking awesome.

WC:  Where are you from?

CF: New Jersey... Thank God. And Lindsay Rome [his business partner] is from Ohio.  In the Columbus area.

WC:  What is Crackerfarm?

CF:  It's a small art collective working in visual arts.  Photo, video... it's got everything.  Lindsay and I started the concept at SVA, we graduated in 2004. It was our thesis project.  It's still an ongoing project.

WC:  Who's Lindsay?

C:  She is my partner and collaborator.

WC:  When did you start doing photography?

C:  I started doing photos when I was 21.  It was just out of not knowing what else to do.  I was going to community college, and I liked the photography class, so I kinda just went with it, and ended up going to SVA mostly because they didn't have mandatory math classes. I think Lindsay has been into photography since she's 14 or so.

WC:  A lot of your work is done in Polaroid.  What's your favorite format for your photos?

C:  Polaroids are definitely my favorite.  But they don't make it anymore, so it's getting harder and harder to come by.  It's just a great look.  It's cool that you can see it right away and all that, but we shoot everything, rolls of film to digital and video, or whatever.

WC:  What are you guys up to right now?

C:  We just finished doing a video for the Avett Brothers, for their new record, so that was cool, we just finished that the other day.  Then we have ongoing clients that we do photo stuff for, like still photos. 

WC: Where do you see Crackerfarm in the future?

C: I think there is a video rep that’s interested in us, so maybe doing videos, commercials or something like that.  I'm really into commercials.  I don't know why, I want to make weird commercials.

WC:  You should do all those hanus pharamecutical ads, and make them all fucked up and crazy...  What inspires you?

C:  Truth and honesty, and a lot of times, the beauty of normal things.  That's what gets us going.

WC: Cool. So, you're saying you're not one of those photographers that puts out these images to make people feel like their never good enough?

C:  Totally.  We don't do a lot of retouching, or special effects.  It's more straight forward and real.  No fuss.

To see more of Crackerfarm's work, click here.