Videographer Tiffany Langston picked the hottest week of the year to film Keith and Jill Forrester at Whitton Farms, but the day-long shoot taught her an important lesson about farming.
"It was very hot," she admitted. "But Keith was great, and he made me realize that to be farmer, you've got to love what you do."
Langston, who works as the communication specialist for the Memphis Zoo, teamed up with video host Gail Karr, an assistant curator at the zoo, to film the Forresters for an exhibit at the zoo's Once Upon a Farm Expo Building. The video will be one of many portraits highlighting the local farm community that will run continuously on three large projection screens.
"We should have the first videos up by September 1," said Langston, a film major who is handling the editing as well as the camera. "Eventually, we want to have enough videos so the exhibit can be seasonal, such as a farmer harvesting pumpkins in the fall."
In addition to Whitton Farms, Langston filmed Jones Orchard in Millington and has to plans to film a cotton farmer, bee keepers, a 4H Club, and a regional winery. "There are so many possibilities for videos that we see this as an ongoing project focusing on the people who farm and the region's rich farm history."
