Smithsonian.com

Has this photo really been altered somehow? It looks very real and is so beautiful with its light and color. It definitely tells a story, but I'll bet Phillip didn't realize how many memories and real stories his work would draw out from its viewers. I loved reading about them, nevermind the one distractor. This is a very appealing, finely done photo in my opinion.

"'If I had a farm, I would have sold it long ago so as to not have to subject my children to such labor.'

Odd that, never having been on a farm or worked on one, you have such a negative opinion of a child's life there.

As the product of a farming family, I believe that the time I spent doing chores, caring for animals and helping - yes -put up hay, was no more demanding on my psyche or my body than the myriad of organized activities in which children of today are expected to participate. And we farm kids still had plenty of time to play, daydream, and pursue our own interests. The farm was not a labor camp. It was a cooperative family effort, where everyone contributed. Perhaps children of today would be happier if given more opportunity to learn something practical and useful, and to enjoy the satisfaction of helping to accomplish something of import."

I grew up in the city until I was 12. From 12 to 15, I was brought up in a rual town; I was not on a farm though. I went from place to place until I was about 21 and ended up again in a rural place and know the importance that hard work and labor structure a child. The problem of America now is that we don't know what HARD WORK is. So, you sweat for a few hours, do you expect $100 an hour? PFT! The person who originally said "have to subject my children to such labor." needs to have EVERYTHING taken away from them and have to rely on hard work to JUST SURVIVE. I am thankful that my husband has a good job and I can stay home and cook & clean (which most wives don't even do nowdays)

Gorgeous color

Now this is more like my idea of a GRAND PRIZE Winner - far superior.

"If I had a farm, I would have sold it long ago so as to not have to subject my children to such labor."

Odd that, never having been on a farm or worked on one, you have such a negative opinion of a child's life there.

As the product of a farming family, I believe that the time I spent doing chores, caring for animals and helping - yes -put up hay, was no more demanding on my psyche or my body than the myriad of organized activities in which children of today are expected to participate. And we farm kids still had plenty of time to play, daydream, and pursue our own interests. The farm was not a labor camp. It was a cooperative family effort, where everyone contributed. Perhaps children of today would be happier if given more opportunity to learn something practical and useful, and to enjoy the satisfaction of helping to accomplish something of import.

As a child growing up I never had been to any farm nor had I ever had to help "Put Up Hay". Thank God. If I had a farm, I would have sold it long ago so as to not have to subject my children to such labor.

The sun's rays and shadows are so beautiful!

The picture of the hay storage barn is great. Even though it was taken in Andover,CT it was pretty suprising to me. This is one of the reminders of a day gone by when farming was an industry in Connecticut.

I was a city boy, but my uncles and cousins lived on farms. One summer when I was about 10, I was visiting on the farm for a week and my uncle told me he wanted me to help put up hay that day. I was to stick the hay fork in the load of hay and then drive the horses to raise the fork full of hay up into the barn, as shown in this picture. I was shown how to do it, but when my uncle yelled to pull the rope I did not pull it hard enough and the hay did not drop off the fork. When I pulled the rope a second time, much harder, the hay had traveled farther along the rail in the loft and when it dropped off the fork it landed right on top of the several man in the loft who were there to fork the hay around and distribute it in the hay loft. Needless to say I got a good lecture and a few unkind words.

When I was 6 or 7 years old, we were living on a farm in Marionville Ontario Canada and my dad used to pick up the hay with a four-wheeled waggon and a horse and it was all done by hands. Needless to say that it was very hard work but we were happy and the hay was put in the barn for the coming winter which was very cold in Canada. This photo brings back very beautiful souvenirs...Merci-Thank you

This photo brings back great childhood memories of growing up on a dairy farm in Door County, Wisconsin. It was a 3 person job: my mother driving the tractor, my dad sticking the large fork in the hay and me in the mow distributing the hay. First we harvested loose hay and later on it was bales we stored in the barn. I never have felt hotter in my life than I was in the hayloft distributing the hay. First the hay was harvested from the field where it was hot and now you were in hayloft where temperatures were greater than 100 degrees and the hay was still curing. Oh for the good old days

This picture brings back memories of my days on the farm in Missouri. My best friend and I helped her grandfather put hay up in his large red barn. She and I drove the horses that pulled the pulley and lifted the hay up to the loft. At a later date, that beautiful barn caught fire and I helped rescue three horses from the blaze. I lost track of my friend for 45 years, and in January of 2011 found her on Facebook. Now we plan on seeing each other sometime this summer. How exciting this get together will be remembering all the fun and the good ole days.

Having lived this life I can tell you that the destination and the means are one thing, survival.

The lighting is beautiful in a picture that brings back many memories of my childhood.