Nature & Wildlife

Farm Life
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Farm Life: A Collection of Animal Portraits

Author Randal Ford, Foreword by Brian Patrick Flynn

2024 NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORK POST, and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE PICKS



From Highland cows to Polish chickens to Arabian horses, Ford’s compelling animal photography invites readers of all ages on a delightful adventure through the barnyard.

Following the acclaimed The Animal Kingdom and Good Dog, Farm Life takes us beyond the barn and into the very heart of America’s vibrant farm animals. This whimsical collection celebrates the spirited charm of these pastoral creatures and invites the viewer on a heartfelt journey of expression, play, and contemplation.

There are so many animals—some domestic and some exotic—featured: cows and calves, horses, chickens and chicks, ducks and ducklings, pigs and piglets, sheep and lambs, goats, barn cats, cattle dogs, rabbits, llamas, yaks, and barn owls. Ford’s unmatched ability to capture each animal’s expression not only entertains but also creates a connection between the subject and the reader.

Masterful, refreshing, and full of joy, this heartfelt collection of farm animal portraits gives us a beautiful look at the special breeds at the center of farm life, inviting us to witness the wild still within them.

About The Author

Randal Ford is recognized across the globe for his masterful photography and studio animal portraiture. His award-winning works have been featured in a wide range of publications, including USA Today, People, the Wall Street Journal, Time, and Wired. Few people have photographed more animals in the studio. Ford’s first book, The Animal Kingdom, was named Amazon’s Best Photography Book in 2018. Brian Patrick Flynn is an American interior designer known for his work with Joanna Gaines as the host of Mind for Design, as well as the production and set designer for HGTV Dream Home and HGTV Urban Oasis.

  • Publish Date: September 10, 2024
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Category: Photography - Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals
  • Publisher: Rizzoli
  • Trim Size: 8-1/2 x 10-7/8
  • Pages: 224
  • US Price: $40.00
  • CDN Price: $55.00
  • ISBN: 978-0-8478-3171-5
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Reviews

“Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Illustrated & Art Books. More than 150 animal portraits shot against neutral backgrounds highlight their subjects’ personalities, whether it’s the skeptical expression shared on facing pages by Hawk, a llama, and Octavius, a Barbados blackbelly sheep, or the tough-guy mien of flamboyantly feathered Blaze, a buff laced Polish rooster. Name-and-species captions accompany the images; in the index, Ford expands on his experiences with each animal. (He writes of border collie Gunner: ‘His senses were sharp, his focus was intent, and his drive to fly from his seat was constant.’).” — Publishers Weekly

“The 38 best books to gift to the readers in your life this Christmas. Farm Life: A blacknose sheep, dappled Texas longhorn, Arabian horses, long crower rooster, and many more are captured in stunning repose by an award-winning animal portrait photographer.” — The New York Post

“From buck-toothed alpacas to chickens so pretty they should have cosmetics contracts, the subjects in Farm Life: A Collection of Animal Portraits are hardly the stuff of Old McDonald. With his charmingly elevated portraits, the photographer Randal Ford makes them all look like barnyard superstars.” — The New York Times Holiday Gift Guide

"In Bug the baby longhorn, [Ford] discovered a budding supermodel. The lanky calf, photographed when he was just days old, is a natural beauty, with his lustrous speckled coat and wide-set eyes. But it’s clearly Ford’s art-directing alchemy that elevates him from barn dweller to heartbreaker, as he turns toward the camera with his long lashes, one foot gingerly posed in front of the other. Photos of Bug are among more than 200 images in Ford’s latest book, Farm Life: A Collection of Animal Portraits, published by Rizzoli. His third monograph with the publisher — following Good Dog (2020) and The Animal Kingdom (2018) — Farm Life includes portraits of goats, pigs, llamas, chickens, ducks, rabbits, horses and a surprising variety of cows. Given that these nonhuman sitters (or standers) are harder to direct than human models, it’s remarkable just how still they appear, as if they are truly posing." — 1stDibs

“Award-winning Texas photographer Randal Ford has turned his lens on all manner of animals: pet dogs, chimpanzees, giraffes, and tigers, not to mention the Texas longhorn on G&G’s February/March 2024 cover. His latest book, Farm Life, follows his previous collections, Animal Kingdom and Good Dog, in elevating animal portraiture to a fine art. This time, he’s capturing the beauty, silliness, eccentricities, and elegance of farm animals—and not just any farm animals. Arabian horses, brown goats, rare Polish chickens, pigeons, and even a baby raccoon occupy shining moments on the pages. Ultimately, the book is a love letter to the working animals that bolster the heartlands of the country.” — Garden & Gun

“Ford’s third animal portraiture project captures the crisp profiles of residents of the American farm: cows, chickens, ducks, yaks, barn owls, and much more.” — The New York Times Book Review

"...these farm animals were photographed in the studio as supermodels. From Highland cows to Polish chickens to Arabian horses, Ford’s compelling animal photography invites us to fill with barnyard awe." — Hello Lovely Studio

Author Bookshelf: Randal Ford

Good Dog
Animal Kingdom