Collards Garden 1985

This film from the JoAnn Elam collection was probably shot by JoAnn Elam’s second husband Joe Hendrix at their home in Chicago around 1985. But this does not diminish Elam’s authorial imprint. Almost certainly under Elam’s direction, Hendrix films her tending to her collards garden in a time-lapse fashion, from the moment she arranges the patch of earth where the collards will be planted until she picks the collards leaves fully grown. Like many other elements from the collection, this footage further exemplifies Elam’s love for nature and interest in farm labor.