A working day at Planting Justice

Planting Justice connects growing food with living-wage jobs, education and support for people returning home from prison. Its nurseries and farms are places where that work happens every day, from caring for plants to sharing food and skills with the community.

We coordinated the shoot with their team in advance, planning photographs around their people, facilities and nursery work. During a regular working day, we made portraits, photographed conversations among the trees and documented the tasks that keep the nursery running. The aim was to show the organization as it was at that point, with enough care and direction to make each photograph useful on its own.

At the propagation bench, we photographed the patient work of preparing cuttings to grow new plants. Moving closer lets the hands, tools and small decisions become part of the story.

The Mother Farm supplies seeds and propagation material for the nursery. Planting Justice's growers use skills such as grafting to preserve and multiply fruit varieties. Those close details help explain the care behind a plant long before it reaches someone's garden.

We also photographed the greenhouse and farm store, from densely planted benches to shelves of seeds, books and garden supplies. These spaces give the portraits a home and help explain how much goes on beyond any single task.

A portrait introduces someone. A close photograph of their hands shows the skill involved. A wider view places that work within the nursery. Bringing those photographs together gives Planting Justice a way to tell its story through the people, process and places that make it recognizable.