Spotlight on women in agriculture at exhibition in Berwick

Daughters of the Soil is the cumulation of 12 months of research into the role of women in agriculture in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.

Women make up 15 per cent of the farming industry in the UK and their contribution is significant, but Joanne said they are often overlooked – with underlying barriers including access to land, class, motherhood and lack of clear leadership roles.

She added: “The project offered the opportunity for me to chronicle the lives and stories of these women.

“Women aren’t as visible as men on farms, but we are seeing them more often.

“The female workforce are driving tractors, having a social media presence and can be seen on the telly, but they don’t often inherit land or work in the leadership positions.

“In the arts, projects often get made by an outsider about areas, places, spaces, people they want to learn about.

“Especially in photography, depictions of rurality and gender came only from the outside.

“As someone who has worked as a farm labourer/worker, who lives in a very rural area with a partner who farms, this work offers a different perspective.

“For me, it is a perspective often overlooked and not seen. I wanted to share this through the work.”

Her work has featured in The Guardian, BBC, Financial Times, The Telegraph and The British Journal of Photography.

She is a winner of the Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Awards and in 2021, she was named as a joint awardee of the Jerwood/Photoworks Prize.

During a residency with the Maltings and Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) and Institute for Creative Arts Practice, Joanne worked collaboratively with Professor Sally Shortall, Duke of Northumberland chair of rural economy at CRE, whose research focuses on gender relations in agriculture.

The exhibition will take place at the gallery every Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 4pm between Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, June 5.