In the summer of 2005, Gregory Thorp, whose photographs appear in A Year of Corn, called the Hennegan Company to see if we would like to see some photography on the subject of corn.

Admittedly, we were a little skeptical that a body of work about corn would be very fascinating. Within minutes of our meeting, viewing some photos and listening to Gregory talk of his obsession, we caught the corn bug. The photos were beautiful and contained so much of the progression of life through the seasons, from germination to summer growth, autumn’s colors and winter’s icy finale. Here was, according to Gregory, biology and poetry, diversity and ecology.

We needed a designer. Deanna Kuhlmann of Kuhlmann Leavitt was our first call. Deanna’s firm worked closely with Gregory and created a beautiful design. We were moved through the seasons and shown the variation and beauty of one of the earth’s great resources. Deanna also took Gregory’s words and wove them into the book.

A Year of Corn is a perfect example of a cooperative venture between photographer, designer, printer and paper company. We all agreed to let the photographer’s art carry the book and to have self-promotion take a backseat. We all reaped the benefits of this strategy.

Does exactly what it sets out to do. Simple and beautiful.