On June 5th I kicked off my 2010 vegan wedding season at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary in Woodstock, NY. The couple, Sloane & Matt, are animal rights activists from NYC who hired me based on a recommendation from sanctuary founders Doug Abel and Jenny Brown.

Sloane & Matt were blessed with a beautiful saturday full of sunshine and tattooed vegans. It is interesting to participate in weddings at sanctuaries (and vegan weddings in general). There are always the friends who are excited to be at a wedding where they can eat all the food and spend time with the amazing farm animals who are the residents. Then there is the family, who are sometimes a little freaked out and worried how they will get through several hours without eating anything that comes from an animal, all the while being surrounded by creatures that they usually only encounter in a different form on their plates.

I like to think about all the ripples of compassion that spread out from events that make a splash in people’s consciousness. The flower girl seemed most enraptured in the company of the animals. Children live so much with their hearts for as long as they can keep at bay the cultural conditioning that emphasizes apathy over empathy. This is often the time when young girls become vegetarians, or have the epiphany that leads them in that direction.

My hope is that even adults who attend vegan weddings at sanctuaries will spend some time with the animals who live there, and some time thinking deeply about the reasons why vegans and sanctuaries exist. I have met people who have become vegan through visiting sanctuaries, and I am sure this transformation occurs at weddings as well. Weddings are about love, food and ritual. If there is to be a transformative effect all three of these elements must work together. Matt & Sloane’s wedding was a great example of how this can happen.

Turkeys like to eat their greens

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary traditionally holds its annual Thanksliving event in November to coincide with the turkey massacre we know as Thanksgiving. They rent a huge banquet tent and heat it up nice and toasty for the hundreds of guests, who get to eat a wonderful catered vegan meal and listen to interesting talks by renown animal rights activists and vegan advocates. The highlight of the event is meeting the animals on the farm and feeding the turkeys a feast that contains squash, cranberries, lettuce, and other yummy whole foods that any turkey would enjoy. As you can see in the photo, the turkeys really enjoy this part of the event. The only down side is that in Woodstock NY when it is the last week in November it is usually pretty cold, it gets dark early, and it is even likely to snow.

This year the organization decided to have the event a month earlier so that there was a better chance of good weather. It was a great plan, since there would also be luscious fall foliage as a backdrop, and some extra daylight to enjoy. Leading up to the event it looked like it was going to rain and be crappy, but luckily Mama Nature came through and although it was a little overcast it was lovely, and the heaters inside the tent kept it warm enough where a working photographer would be fine in a tee shirt.

Turkeys forming a heart shape to show their appreciation

The event was well organized this year, and although I heard rumors of some near misses to me it seemed smooth like vegan chocolate syrup pouring into a soy mocha latte. The ever weird and witty comedian/comic/board member Dan Piraro MC’d the event. He projected strips from his syndicated comic Bizarro onto the wall of the tent and made random deadpan comments about them, weaving us all into his surreal twisted worlds as soymilk sprayed out our nostrils.

The featured speakers were Nathan Runkle of Mercy For Animals, John Phillips of the NY League of Humane Voters, and sanctuary cofounder and director Jenny Brown. Also in attendance were Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamuki Yoga and Joshua Katcher of The Discerning Brute. The amazing and effervescent band Ida played a couple sets as well, on a stage that seemed to be made of hay bales.

The highlights for me were getting to visit with old human and animal friends, eating the hearty vegan food, being brought to tears once again by Jenny Brown’s keynote, and winning a Comedy Central DVD set in the raffle. The vegan pumpkin cheesecake by Vegan Treats was freaking amazing too… all in all I think it was the best Woodstock Thanksliving so far.

duck by new duck pond	giving a turkey some love
kissing pigs	Ed Coffin from Vegan Drinks Philly
Chocolate Cake and Pumpkin Cheesecake by Vegan Treats	Jenny Brown and Doug Abel receive award from Ulster County Legislator Brian Shapiro
Dan Piraro talks with his mouth full	Sarah Peters and Gena Hamshaw volunteering
Dylan shows off his fancy steer tongue	Zaac chasing me around the kitchen with mushrooms
Hiding a lollipop from the turkeys	John Phillips of the NY League of Humane Voters

Jenny Brown, co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, with a Rooster

I have been friends with Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary’s founders Jenny Brown and Doug Abel since a bit before they started working on the sanctuary in 2004, and have been blessed to watch it grow into the wondrous hippy hipster refuge for rescued critters that it is today. It somehow still feels strange for me to go to the events at the farm when the animals we call people outnumber the people we call animals. The time I spend there photographing the animals is typically peaceful and meditative as I try to imagine the world through their eyes and understand who they are. There is plenty of commotion; grunting pigs, chickens and roosters chasing each other around squawking, goats bleating and maybe a cow’s ruminating bellow sounding above the crowd. And of course there is Jenny Brown making her rounds chatting with the animals and orchestrating the day to day chores involved in running a farm animal sanctuary. Still, with the mountains all around and the immense importance of what is being done here, it feels somehow quiet and relaxed.

By contrast, the June Jamboree is an event bristling with families and activity, live music and amazing vegan food being served by celebrity chef Isa Moskowitz. There are lots of people I know, social responsibilities to attend to, foods to sample, pictures to take and potty breaks. For some reason I tend to spend less time with the animals when there is an event going on (except for the ones with opposable thumbs). It is heartwarming to see kids and animals bonding, and wondering if they will grow up to be compassionate and wise. I photograph these interactions because I know they will be used to bring people and donations to the farm, even though it feels a little intrusive sometimes. Usually I just put on a big lens and stay in the background, but sometimes I have to come in close with my wide angle to see what’s up.

I had originally hoped to attend this event with the Vegan Bus, but as it turned out the bus was in the shop getting new brakes, and so my friend Meredith drove me down along with my friend Scott and her friend Wendy. It is fun to be in a car full of vegans and the two plus hour drive through the Berkshire Mountains and into the Catskills went quickly. It was Wendy and Meredith’s first time visiting WFAS, and they were both moved by the experience. Scott seemed to enjoy himself as well, didn’t you Scotty? I thought so.

Anyway, here are some photos of the trip, hope you enjoy them and will be encouraged to visit, donate, volunteer, or send some love.

See all of the photos on my flickr account.

Anne the baby goat

The star of the weekend was definitely the new baby goat named Anne. She was only 5 days old and just starting to run around and attempt little goat jumps. Once she tired herself out she would just sit in your arms and be loved. When it was feeding time she would down a soda bottle full of goat milk in about 20 seconds. She also liked to suck on people’s fingers. Anne was born on a goat farm where her mother got an udder infection and refused to feed her. A compassionate person working at the farm brought her to Woodstock. She still had a little umbilical cord dried up on the outside of her belly, and everyone was enthralled by her cuteness.

One of the Valentine piglets

I was also happy to get to photograph the Valentines Piglets, named so because they arrived on Valentines weekend. They were three months old when we were there, double the age they were when they arrived, but still piglets none the less!

A man in western New York purchased 4 young pigs from an Amish farmer to raise for slaughter. He kept the pigs in a small, unheated garage, and one morning discovered that one of the pigs had given birth during the night. Twelve tiny piglets lay next to their mother, wet and covered with excrement. Eight were already dead and four others lay shivering and barely alive.

The Rehabilitator, Shanon Rumbugh, received the call on New Year’s Eve and she rushed the piglets home. She tirelessly nursed them back to health—but it wasn’t an easy road. Once they were stable, the original owners had the gall to ask for them back to raise for slaughter along with the others.

baby chicks march 2009

Right before we left there was another group of babies arriving, chicks from a school hatching project. I didn’t get to photograph them much, but they sure were cute and fuzzy!

As happens frequently around Easter, we received a call from a school teacher looking for a home for 5 just-hatched chicks — the living, breathing result of a classroom project. These fuzzballs quickly grow into larger hens and roosters who have a lot of space, temperature and care requirements, and can live for over a decade.

As soon as the novelty is over, assuming the chicks or ducklings can survive the unnurturing classroom environment, the teacher or parent has to find a “home” — more often than not the end of the road for those animals. The takeaway for the kids is less about biology and more about the disposability of life. If you’re a parent or student who hears of an upcoming hatching project, please encourage that teacher to consider more humane alternatives to hatching.

Jenny Brown, Doug Abel and the baby goat named Anne

I also took some photos of founders Jenny Brown and Doug Abelwith animals and the farm in the background. They are two of my favorite people so that part was fun. Of course lots of photos of Monica, and she took some of me. In-between we worked on the farm and ate lots of amazing vegan food, had profound conversations, and were constantly reminded why we choose the vegan path and how blessed we are to be on it.

Monica, Ann and I

Check out www.WoodstockSanctuary.org to learn about ways you can help out and to see more of my fabulous photographs!