Seeds of Harmony (series), by Jeff Kennel

Many of Jeff Kennel’s photographic works are based on world travels, but a recent series of photos records a gathering of world cultures on a small plot of land in New Columbia, a large housing project in Portland, Oregon. Seeds of Harmony, a community garden, is part of Village Gardens, whose tagline is “uniting cultures through dirt.” Kennel comments, “There are at least 14 nationalities represented, and you are as likely to hear Oromo or Chuj spoken in the garden as you are English.” Kennel is a fellow gardener in the community. “My intention is to introduce viewers to these amazing people and to encourage them to hear their stories and share their own.” For more about the gardening community, see Kennel’s short video.