The pleasure of seduction

I have lived for 22 years with my highland cattle. In the crowd, I would like to say - so closely have I been a part of the lives of my creatures that the fox cubs and cranes consider me one of the cattle, playing and dancing their spring dances, even though I am standing a few meters away among my cows.

22 times the year has revolved around the pastures, from spring to autumn, from autumn to spring. I have learned to sniff the rains and listen to the winds, to read the quiet language of the cattle directly from the sides of the mother cow, to sense the presence of beasts or the growth of the brambles. The cows have taught me.

Whatever the weather, whatever the time of year or day, I have always admired how smoothly my cattle fit into their environment, melting and blending into the terrain. They are. They fit and adapt. They find places to lie down, tufts of grass and scratching posts, they wander and play, they scratch and laze. They live, they exist, they graze. Every day of the year.

Photo and text: photographer Riikka Palonen, Köyliö

(Riikka Palonen is the photographer of the photo I Am .)