Statement

hopland

My mother, Diane (Champoux) Sweeny, grew up on a hop farm located in the Lower Yakima Valley of Washington State. My grandparents were both also members of large hop farming families, the children of French-Canadian emigrants that left Quebec to eventually find their home and thrive in Central Washington.

I knew little of these fields beyond my mother's stories of her childhood and old snapshots taken on the ranch. But the landscape has always held much intrigue - just imagine the tall poles of the hop fields sprawled across the valley like an army of huge matchsticks. A few years ago, I finally came to my senses and began exploring the fields with my cameras.

Rather than the lush fields of each year's fall harvest, I am most drawn to the open space and striking lines of the empty fields. Their stark and haunting beauty resonates, serving as a memorial to generations past.