How a Calf Photoshoot Turned Into a Magazine

The Winter Issue didn’t start with a plan.

It started with Baby Elvis.

While sitting with cows during Oreo's labor, I was able to capture a few photos — nothing formal, just the kind of winter moments that feel worth saving. The light was good. The air was sharp. Baby Elvis was unimpressed.

Somewhere between those photos and the quiet that followed, the idea shifted.

Winter has a way of doing that. It slows things down enough that you start noticing what’s left when the noise drops away. The photos led to notes. The notes led to reflections. Before we realized it, we weren’t documenting a moment anymore — we were paying attention to a season.

The Winter Issue grew the same way winter itself does here: gradually, without asking permission. Pages took shape around the things winter asks of us — rest that isn’t escapism, work that values durability over speed, hands busy with useful things, evenings that end earlier than we expect.

Baby Elvis still shows up in the issue, of course. He just didn’t know he was setting anything in motion.

What started as a photoshoot became a collection of thoughts, images, and reminders about living through winter rather than trying to outpace it. Not a magazine in the glossy sense — more a record of a season as it actually happens.

If you’d like to read it, the Winter Issue is now available on the site. Take your time with it. Winter does.

Kim Matlock

— Matlock Farms

Read the Winter Issue