The Lie of the Land project is a slow burning photography/testimony based project which looks at people involved in producing food - from banana workers in Cameroon to small producers in Southern Spain and farmers in Jan's native Kintyre.
Through her experience in working closely with banana and pineapple workers in Latin America, Jan has become interested in the alternative, small scale local sustainable food production. She is a member of Plot 16, a mini collective who share an allotment in Glasgow, and Jan believes she inherits her enjoyment of growing food, from her father, Neil.
As a regular visitor to the Sierra de Huelva, Jan has explored the countryside of the Parque Natural Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche with her horse, Chaparro, on rides that have ranged as far as the Portuguese border in the west, Extremadura in the North and as far as Zufre in the East. During the many hours spent on horseback she has gained an intimate knowledge of the Sierra and the people living and working there. She has been gathering portraits and footage of small producers who rear black Iberian pigs, harvest chestnut and who produce cork - or in many instances do all three.
As part of the project Jan has made a film about the yearly winter pig kill so typical of that part of Spain. The film, La Chacina de La Suerte, is not only about sustainable meat production - it is also a portrait of the family who look after Chaparro.
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