What is it like to be a Vermont country vet? We asked photographer Mark Fleming to document three days with large-animal veterinarian Tom Stuwe.
By Heather Marcus
Apr 14 2017
In the fall of 2016, Yankee senior photographer Mark Fleming spent three days traveling the back roads of Vermont with large-animal veterinarian Tom Stuwe for the March/April 2017 feature, “A Farmer’s Best Friend.” During those three days, they x-rayed a horse’s hoof, performed surgery on a cow, castrated a bull, and inoculated an entire herd of dairy cows. Mark’s goal for the assignment was to give the reader a true “fly on the wall” experience, and a behind the scenes look at a profession that many are curious about, but not many get to see. One look at the images below, and we think you’ll understand why Mark considers riding shotgun with Tom one of his top 10 assignments of all time.
Photographer Mark Fleming was born in Hartford, Connecticut, but his family moved to mid-coast Maine when he was 8 years old. Growing up in Maine had a huge influence on him, especially on his photography. He studied photojournalism in the shadow of Kodak, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Since then he has worked for a collection of great publications and corporations including REI, Coleman Company, Boston Magazine, Down East Magazine, and LL Bean. He currently lives in beautiful Portland, Maine.
Mark is excited to be joining the team here at Yankee as our senior photographer. The country vet assignment is a perfect example of why he is so excited about this position. Being able to spend several days with a subject and really immerse yourself in a story, is such an amazing opportunity as a photographer.
To see more of Mark’s work please visit markflemingphoto.com