Where The Buffalo Roam

When I got the initial inquiry email from the National Forest Foundation asking if I could cover a project for them I thought it was a mistake, after all, they are in Montana and I’m in Illinois.  But I figured I had to see the request through, who knows, I just might be the perfect fit, and it turns out I was. They were looking for someone to photograph a group of students from a South Side Chicago high school, North Lawndale College Prep, who were spending a good portion of their summer working down in Joliet, Illinois at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

Only one week prior to their initial email, I had hastily thrown a ton of new work on my website, without all the fine tuning I wanted so badly to do, I couldn’t look at my old site for another minute. It had been years since I had done a maternity session and yet there was still the category of “Bellies” up in bold letters. I wanted my new site to reflect the work I was doing; playing in summer camps, capturing early childhood programs, showcasing tech workshops, immersing myself in the special needs community. Well, it worked, since they told me the reason they reached out to me is that they saw the new work capturing youth in action, and were confident I’d be a great choice for this project.

Despite having multiple conversations with my out of town contacts to gather as many details as I could I still showed up in 95 degree heat, 100% humidity, wearing the wrong things. My cropped pants and hiking sneakers would not protect my exposed legs from the poisonous wild parsnip the group leader made sure to point out to me before I took one step into the prairie brush. So I figured out where I could capture the work and still be safe. Thankfully the students stuck to the sides of the road on my first day, working tirelessly in the suffocating heat. When I came back the next day I was much better prepared. I had long pants, tall hiking boots, and a large scarf that I eventually wrapped around my head and neck to protect my skin from the blistering sun.  I still had a lot of trouble identifying poison ivy, but I could spot that parsnip a mile away, and felt more confident when following the students into the heart of the prairie as they measured the growth of the tall grass.

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie used to be an ammunition factory and in 2011 the community made a pledge to restore it to it’s original prarie glory, putting a very detailed plan into action which relies of the help of volunteers from all over to guarantee success.  Among their duties at Midewin, the students worked hard removing non-native plants from the brush, allowing for the native prairie grasses to thrive once more. Sawing, cutting, and pulling down small trees in sweltering heat with barely a complaint, most of them had never been immersed in a prairie, most of them had never seen a cow before. In order to participate in this project the North Lawndale students had to fill out in depth applications, go through an interview process, and complete training on topics such as poisonus plants before they hopped in their vans for the 1.5 hour drive each way.

While driving from the visitor’s center to the work location I listened closely to the conversations in the van. Quieting my usual non-stop chatter and found that I didn’t have to work hard to connect with them at all. They referenced my favorite 90’s movies and music, quoting John Whitherspoon at length, goofing around not unlike my friends at that age.  Standing back and letting them do their thing they hardly noticed I was there, except when they smiled. Their chaperones, teachers from their school, explained to me a bit about what would motivate these students to spend six weeks, three hours of driving in a van each day, to cut down small trees, plant local vegetation, and measure grass down in Joliet. One of them had recently lost her brother to gun violence in the neighborhood and most of them had nothing else to keep them occupied once school let out for vacation.  They were eager for the new opportunity and their teachers were eager to expose them to careers and a way of life you don’t see in their neighborhoods.