New Farmer

New Farmer is a pho­to­graph­ic exhibition that examines the complex rela­tion­ships between agri­cul­tur­al imagery, historical propaganda, and con­tem­po­rary digital technologies.

This series of images begins with what appear to be authentic documentary photographs from the 1960s celebrating the triumphs of the Green Revolution – satisfied farmers using modern machinery, immaculate fields, and abundant harvests. However, as the viewer progresses through the exhibition, the images gradually reveal their artificial nature, proving to be entirely generated by artificial intelligence.

The subtle progression from seemingly historical scenes to increas­ing­ly surreal rep­re­sen­ta­tions – oversized vegetables, impossible machines, fantastic agri­cul­tur­al landscapes – creates a visual tension that challenges our reading of images. This gradual trans­for­ma­tion allows the artist to establish a striking parallel between historical agri­cul­tur­al propaganda and the pos­si­bil­i­ties for visual manip­u­la­tion offered by contemporary AI.

New Farmer operates a dual critique: on one hand, the work questions the selective narrative that surrounded the Green Revolution (1960 – 1990), generally presented through carefully chosen images that obscured negative con­se­quences such as loss of bio­di­ver­si­ty or the envi­ron­men­tal impact of monocultures.

On the other hand, the deliberate use of AI to create these historical pseudo-documents questions our rela­tion­ship with images in the digital age. By inten­tion­al­ly blurring the boundary between authentic document and artificial creation, Eesly invites us to develop a more critical eye toward the constant flow of images to which we are exposed.

Through com­po­si­tions with subtle humor and increas­ing­ly apparent artifice, New Farmer encourages us to question not only simplified narratives of agri­cul­tur­al progress but also our own rela­tion­ship with con­tem­po­rary visual media. The work also prompts us to examine our rela­tion­ship with the production and consumption of natural produce, challenging industrial agri­cul­tur­al systems and the eating habits that stem from them. It reminds us that the skills needed to decode historical propaganda – questioning sources, considering omissions, examining context – are more essential than ever in our world saturated with arti­fi­cial­ly generated images.

Bruce Eesly, New Farmer (2023) is presented as part of the exhibition Hybrid Futures: Rhizomes, Meshworks & Alter-Ecologies, organised and produced by Elektron.
Curators: Vincent Crapon & Françoise Poos. 
This pre­sen­ta­tion is also part of the programme for the European Month of Photography Luxembourg festival.

Bruce Eesly
New Farmer, 2023
Digital print on canvas 
Courtesy of the artist