Andréa Kütemeier

In a world where 7.5 billion people live, how is it possible that chickens more than triple that? What kind of people take pride in raising and caring for these beautiful animals? With curiosity being the driving force, I explored chickens of all different natures in the Northwest Indiana region. Some of the birds were raised for the resources they can provide, some for the learning opportunities that come with raising a living thing, and some for the idea of pride and sport. Pecking Order is a body of work that encompasses these ideas. It also displays how I chose to learn about them and teach others through a documentary style of photography using large format film and printing by hand in the darkroom. When the audience looks at my images, I hope they see an honest encounter of myself with my subjects as I immersed myself in their world to capture these moments in time; to make sense of it all.

The wonderful world of chickens has been my life for the past year, and I have been traveling around Northwest Indiana to explore the world of chickens. Being from this area with a background in farming, I know a lot of farmers in the area who raise chickens for different purposes. The farms that used the chickens strictly for eggs were smaller, having between 10-15 chickens. The mass production farm I visited was a different story. Between two large pens, were somewhere between 150-200 chickens squawking and running around the jammed area. Transitioning from that to a farm that had many chickens and roosters in individual cages seemed so strange. These beautiful birds were so well taken care of. Their owners were so proud of them and took pride in their warriors because they were bred to fight. My youngest subjects are doing just that. The two boys seen in my photographs are learning all about how to raise, care for, and eventually sell off their chickens through the 4-H program. They learn some of the most valuable skills in this way and get to actually understand how we actually are able to eat every day.

For this project, I was most directly influenced by documentary photography. Documentarians who immerse themselves in a project by being curious and open to whatever they will find greatly influenced the way I approached my series. Capturing these moments in time so that I can understand them, and the audience can understand them. Scott Strazzante’s work Common Ground had a big impact on me. I connected much of the documentary work that I was doing to his aesthetic of seeming unseen from the photographs. He immerses himself in the world, so that he can make those connections to create art. Aimee Tomasek’s work with her 4-H students makes me want to continue this project to see the growth and progression of how time changes and evolves these ideas. I loved working with each of my subjects and getting to really know them. The personal relationships I developed with each allowed me to truly capture the individuals and their animals. My images are about all of these ideas and people. They are showing you the individuals and their relationships between themselves and the birds. My images show the homes of these birds and how sometimes they are pieced together to protect the animals. When the audience looks at my images, I hope they see my honest encounter of myself with my subjects.

The collection of photographs I have compiled for this project does not cover the complete world of chickens. The goal of my work is to inform and invite questions about a world that many do not understand. There is so much to be learned about these creatures and the people who raise them, and my mission with this project is to bridge the gap and tell their story.