Amy Bateman’s twin loves of farming and photography are helping to breathe fresh life into her business and highlight the challenges of being a Cumbrian farmer at a time of profound change.
Having converted a former sheep pen into a photography studio, the award-winning photographer now runs workshop tours of her farm near Kendal and two other farms in the Lake District.
Would-be photographers can spend a full day touring Amy’s 900-acre beef and sheep farm near Kendal, capturing its character and characters including working collie dogs in action, suckler cows and calves and a bull.
She also runs a Farms and Tarns workshop at Yew Tree Farm near Coniston – an iconic whitewashed farm once owned by Beatrix Potter – and a Fells and Farms workshop which she runs on the National Trust’s largest farm, Glencoyne near Ullswater.
Amy’s photography skills don’t just provide a new income stream – they are helping to create a permanent record of farming life in Cumbria.
Her debut book Forty Farms is a visual record of farming in Cumbria seen through the eyes of 40 local farmers. The book won the top prize at the 2023 Lakeland Book of the Year Awards.
Amy said: “It’s very rewarding that my farming and photography experience are proving so mutually beneficial.
“With the photography workshops, we get to capture behind-the-scenes farm life that people rarely experience.
“It’s a joy bringing people here to develop their skills and show them a bit more about farming, and winning the award for Forty Farms is just overwhelming.”
Forty Farms was the result of two years’ work to capture farming life in a region that is world-famous for its agricultural sector – from sixth generation farming families to eager newcomers and young farmers.
Through photos and interviews it explores how the farming landscape in Cumbria has changed over time and how farmers adapt to changing trends and consumer demand.
Amy said: “The Lakeland Book of the Year Award is for those 40 farmers.
“If they hadn’t welcomed me to their tables, told me their stories and let me photograph them, this book would never have happened.
“I am very grateful to every single one of them for letting me into their lives.”
Amy got into photography by chance after closing her physiotherapy clinic in Kendal to look after her three young daughters and to help run her husband’s family farm. She picked up the camera to take pictures of their children growing up on the farm.
She has since won several awards, including Fotospeed Photographer of the Year in 2018 and British Life Photographer of the Year in 2019.
Her work has seen her nominated for the prestigious Diversification of the Year Award at this year’s British Farming Awards.
Amy has introduced two luxury glamping pods at her farm so that aspiring photographers can stay on site while developing their skills.
Amy said: “We have worked hard to make this a sustainable form of tourism with as small a carbon footprint as possible.
“We’ve installed solar panels this year which are now covering the electricity needs of the farm, studio and glamping pods.
“We get all our supplies from local producers and feed our visitors with food from the farm.
“They get to see rural life close up and peek behind the workings of a busy upland sheep farm,” she says.
“They leave with enhanced photography skills and a better understanding of farming life.”
