Across the Bay Bridge, through miles of marsh and farmland, lies Wye Farm. The property has belonged to Anne Habberton’s family since the 1700s.
She and her husband, Jon Shaw, have transformed about 30 acres of farmland into a meadow of native wildflowers this year.
Local photographer Benjamin C. Tankersley documented the farm over the course of two days with four cameras, including two medium-format film cameras, a Hasselblad and a Mamiya 6.
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A wildflower pollinator strip seen between the horse yard and cornfields at sunrise from the roof of the silo at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. Pollinator fields are used to separate the crops that are still farmed with chemicals from the house and wooded areas on the property. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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The wildflowers and corn meeting at the front yard buffer strip at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Jon Shaw stands among the wildflowers in the front yard buffer strip at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Anne Habberton and Jon Shaw in Jon's studio, which is housed in the old grain house at Wye Farm, on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Anne Habberton displays a framed aerial photo taken in the early 2000s that shows much of the Wye Farm. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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The wildflower pollinator buffer strips meet at the back corner of the house's yard at Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Corn cobs at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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A bumblebee on a partridge pea at the Wye Farm on Aug. 3, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Jon Shaw shows a partridge pea leaf taken from a pollinator field at the Wye Farm in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Anne Habberton holds an axe head on Aug. 4, 2022 that her mother's friend found in the 1980s on the Wye Farm. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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A painting by Jon Shaw showing a friend on one of his polo ponies at the Mashomack Polo Club in New York. It hangs on the wall of a converted storehouse at the Wye Farm in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Jon Shaw rides his horse, Domino, into the pond on Aug. 4, 2022 at the Wye Farm in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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The pond at the Wye Farm on Aug. 3, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Family pictures of Anne Habberton's family displayed at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Anne Habberton stands in a doorway of the old smokehouse at the Wye Farm on Aug. 3, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. The farm has been in her family since the 1700s. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Jon Shaw on his horse, Domino, in the pollinator fields at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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The driveway near the horse yard at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Anne Habberton and Jon Shaw stand on the patio, which Jon built in 1999 for their wedding, in the backyard of Wye Farm. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Grasses and black-eyed Susans have overtaken a chair along a path near the pond at the Wye Farm. Anne Habberton enjoys walking the paths through their pollinator fields. Her husband, Jon Shaw, has placed chairs and benches along the way where she can rest. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Jon Shaw observes a bee in the wildflower buffer between the front yard of the house and the chemically-treated cornfield at Wye Farm on Aug. 3, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. The natural buffer was planted as a precaution after Anne Habberton developed cancer. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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The top of a mimosa tree at the Wye Farm on Aug. 4, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. Buffer pollinator fields and cornfields can be seen in the distance. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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Jon Shaw walks through grass at the Wye Farm on Aug. 3, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
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A wildflower pollinator field between cornfields on Aug. 3, 2022 in Queenstown, Maryland. (Benjamin C Tankersley/Benjamin C Tankersley for The Baltimore Banner)
Benjamin C. Tankersley is a freelance photographer based in Baltimore.
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