Hi there! If you are looking for a photographer for Rocker 7 Farm Patch in Buckeye. Arizona for October/November 2025, I am definitely available! Please feel free to CONTACT ME HERE!!
Or if you are interested in my sessions coming up this Fall/Winter 2025, CHECK MY BOOKING SITE HERE!
Rocker 7 Farm Patch, located at 19601 W Broadway Rd, Buckeye, AZ 85326 was the prettiest I had ever seen it on this Friday afternoon in October last year (2024.) The farmers who own Rocker 7 had planted sooooo many more flowers than in past years. Acres more. And they were absolutely gorgeous! And because it was a Friday the place was pretty quiet. I know it gets very lively/busy on the weekends, but pro tip: go on a Thursday or Friday to have the place largely to yourself! It’s so peaceful during the week.
I met up with my cousin K, her husband, and her kids - my little cousins pictured here. K and I live on opposite sides of the valley/metro Phoenix area so I only see her every once in a while. I wish we lived closer!
As I was looking at these photos of my cousins, I started getting curious about how we are related and went down some internet rabbit holes looking things up. I was specifically interested in finding out more about my grandmother Caroline’s mother. All I ever knew about her is that her name was Bessie Park and that she was from northeast Oklahoma. I decided to do the free Ancestry dotcom trial and found out when Bessie Park was born: January 18, 1883 in Oktaha Indian Territory, Oklahoma. I learned that she lost her mother when she was about 8 years old. I always wondered if she was from a native tribe. The one photo I have seen of her makes me think she might have been. Bessie had three children - Caroline, Donald, and Vivienne, but very sadly she passed away when they were still just little kids, with my grandmother Caroline being the oldest at about age 10.
So then I started looking up info about the Oktaha Indian Territory. It was a multicultural settlement within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, just before Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The Muscogee (Creek) people were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in Alabama and Georgia during the 1830s as part of the Trail of Tears. They were displaced to so-called Indian Territory, including the area around Oktaha. The Creek nation was a Matrilineal Society meaning lineage and inheritance were traced through moms and grandmas. Around that time, native children were being forced to attend mission schools and boarding schools and were being kept from speaking their languages, erasing cultural identity.
I often wish I had just a few photographs of my grandmothers and great-grandmothers—and my grandfathers too. I know so few photos were taken back then, so having even one feels like a treasure. It makes me hope that the photos I take today might one day be seen by the descendants of the people in them—offering them a glimpse into their own history.
Oh how much my little cousins love each other!
I like using sunflowers to frame people. There are endless possibilities with this method!
My cousin and her family at Rocker 7 Farm Patch. We walked past the cotton field to this tall grass that was growing near the irrigation portal. It caught the setting sunlight in a beautiful way on this windy evening.
