Jeff - Meat dept. manager and butcher, 2016
As Uprooted progressed, I needed a framework to guide my choice of subjects, so I turned to the method of typology. Archetypes are universal patterns in human nature that often appear in literature and psychology. I decided to photograph every role in the town, including different occupations and socioeconomic classes. The butcher at the local grocery store is an interesting archetype, his profession has an ancient connection to our hunter-gatherer ancestors as well as a link to current-day societies around the globe. It reminded me of when I was photographing in Tuscany and a local butcher told me his family had been in the profession for over 400 years! That tradition and connection to identity is entrenched in Italy’s culture, which parallels and contrasts with the Belmond butcher.