Ever since humanity graduated from a hunter-gatherer existence, the ability to settle down and till the soil and master animal husbandry has been reliant upon the predictability of the seasons, which in turn was reliant upon the regular supply of water and the predictability of the seasons. Agriculture therefore can be said to be at the basis of sustained human settlement, and with that comes all the ancillary developments that gave us cities, pyramids, writing, astronomy  - in short the building blocks of civilization. Knowledge derived from close observation of the night sky was essential in predicting the seasons.
     So when we see Günther Komnick’s  evocative images, we are looking at traditions and ways of life that have determined humanity’s prosperity and indeed, stability. Disasters happen when floods, droughts locusts or disease come, people find themselves at the mercy of the elements and hope for a better year. In these images we see the daily grind, the daily commitment to a future, to provide sustenance to ourselves and the next generation. The expertise required to be a successful farmer cannot be separated from considerations of access to land, to water and a deep understanding of the rhythms of nature. Komnick takes us through the various forms that farming takes. For example, highly capital intensive commercial farming through to subsistence farming, to techniques that have remained unchanged for millennia and which provide a salutary and comforting reminder of the continuity that working with the land represents.

Dr Wilhelm Snyman, Auckland, New Zealand