United Farm Worker Portraits
While I was living in Seattle, the state of Washington approached me to photograph the living conditions of migrant farm workers in the area. Their idea was to shoot where they lived during their time in the state before moving on to the next location. Washington was trying to raise awareness of how bad the conditions were in order to approach the federal government for additional funding. My idea was to not just photograph the living conditions, but also to turn the images into portraits of the people within those camps.
The way was paved for me by a state liaison who contacted leaders of certain groups. She not only accompanied me on the shoots but acted as interpreter as well. The first camp we went to was on the Columbia River near the small town of Vantage, Washington. When we arrived, the men, women and children were living under sheets of plastic, in cars and rooms made of cardboard. People were cooking their meals on open fires and washing their clothes in the river or in tubs and hanging the clothes on stretches of rope. Mirrors were hung on trees for the men to shave.
At another location in Mount Vernon, the conditions were only slightly better. Rooms for sleeping were made of particle board. The one shower had a concrete floor and a bare pipe that came out of the ceiling.
Aside from the obvious reasons, this was a difficult shoot. Viewing these conditions was hard, but not being able to communicate made it even worse. I couldn’t connect with them at all and that’s an important part of a successful portrait. However, all of the people I met around the state were very kind and giving of their time. When they learned of why I was there, the barriers dropped and I was given access to their personal spaces.
By the end of the three-location shoot, I photographed about 25 portraits of these very hardworking and generous workers and their families, after which they moved on to California to pick the next crop.