PROJECTS: I'M A CHRISTMAS TURKEY

In December 2010 just before all the snow set in, I began photographing the turkeys at Frenchbeer Farm, Dartmoor National Park, as they were being prepared for sale at Christmas. People worked in freezing conditions, plucking and drawing by hand, with such attention to detail and care that I found it hard to believe that the individual bird I was looking at was headed for a butcher's cold shelf - end user unkown, and not a jewel encrusted platter on a table for the gods. It was a great surprise to me just how much work goes in to preparing a single turkey for someone's Christmas dinner. And a relief to know that there are such ethically-minded farmers.

I returned the following Spring to photograph the 3 day old chicks arriving at the farm. This Christmas I plan to photograph the actual Christmas dinner.

To view more pictures, please email me for a password to a private gallery jm@juliettemills.com