Five questions with John Ficara whose photography show "Distant Echoes: Black Farmer's in America" is displayed in Squires "Perspective Gallery" and will run through Feb 23.

1) Other than being black rural farmers, what do the subjects of these photographs have in common?

I think that what I recognized in many of the farmers that I met
along this project was they shared great perseverance to keep their farms productive despite the many obstacles they confronted. The desire to keep the farms productive and keep the land for future generations.

2) How did you become aware of the plight of these farmers?

I worked on a story for Newsweek magazine, that was my
introduction. I felt this was a greater story and viewed this as a
part of American history that was disappearing on the agricultural landscape. It was with that view that I started the American black farmers project.

3) Was there anything other than the obvious "another time" attributes of black and white that encouraged you to not photograph in color?

I chose black and white film which is in the great tradition of
documentary photography. Black and white film forces a viewer to confront the information in a photograph, rather than the color qualities of an image.

4) Is there anything you know of that can be done to reverse this dwindling away of family farms?

Today, the trends in agriculture are toward large corporate farms. All family farms are feeling the economic pressure to compete with these large operations. Unless the agricultural community finds a way to allow family farms to fairly compete in this country, there will be fewer and fewer family run farms.

5) What's next for John Ficara and what are you working on currently?

I have another book project that I will be starting this spring. Also, I have been studying video using the new small broadcast quality cameras to allow myself another dimension in multi-media storytelling and documentary work.