Artist
Beatrice Hamblett
Three Cows and a Pig
Date2022
MediumSilver gelatin print
Dimensions16 x 15 in. (40.6 x 38.1 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2025.007
ClassificationsPhotographs
Locations
- Currently Not on View
DescriptionHamblett’s photography practice grows from her extensive travels across rural Greece, the Balkans, and Appalachian region of the United States. With many of her photographic subjects often living in rural or traditional societies, Hamblett employs writing and storytelling to help better represent the worlds they live in. Hamblett recounts a story from the day that this photograph of West Virginian resident Janice Mann was taken: “This morning the sun is breaking through the clouds as I set out toward Talbot, West Virginia to photograph and explore. Just outside the town [in Hinton], I pass a lawn furnished with a life-size pig and three black and white cows—small, medium and large. I shoot a few frames and a woman steps out on her porch. Tall with short greying hair, she carries herself with confidence and elan. ‘I decorate for every holiday,’ says Janice Mann. ‘Christmas, Easter, Halloween, St. Patricks.’ Last Easter she surprised her neighbors with what appeared to be 5000 eggs spread across her lawn. Where could she find so many eggs? ‘Actually, my husband’s a golfer. I fooled a lot of people for a while,’ she says as she suppresses a mischievous grin.”
