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Back to the Land in Upstate New York

We’d be hard-pressed to think of two livelihoods more diametrically opposed than fashion photography and farming. There are plenty of dual careers out there that make sense: actor/model, director/producer, artist/designer. Farmer/fashion photographer does not. But that unlikely pairing is exactly the situation NYC fashion photog Fabio Chizzola found himself in when he and his wife Laura Ferrara, a stylist, bought a 32-acre apple orchard in the Catskill Mountains in 2002.

Chizzola, who spent his childhood summers on a farm in Italy, jumped at the chance to go back to his roots. Nine years later, after many hard days pruning the neglected orchard, and just as many thoughts about re-selling the property, the farm is now a certified organic producer of apples, squash, honey and more. 

The couple recently renovated the main building on the property, a Dutch-American stone farmhouse dating from the 1770s, now converted into a loftlike space for relaxing with their young son. The original siding has been replaced with mushroom wood, the name given to recycled cypress and hemlock once used in bins in mushroom factories. Judging from these photos, shot by Randy Harris, it looks amazing.

(via NYT)

Photos: Randy Harris / The New York Times

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