Photographers and Farm Workers in California, 1850-2005

FAIN: FB-53043-07

Richard Steven Street
Unaffiliated independent scholar

A study of how photographers have interacted with farmworkers in California since 1850. Words take precedence over images in this study. My text discusses the role of photographers and photography, the evolution of the documentary approach, the way technology effected coverage (for example the change from large glass plate view cameras to smaller 4 x 5 inch Speed Graphic press cameras and then to modern motor-driven 35 mm cameras). I identify particular photographers who made key contributions, analyze how photography has figured in the farm worker struggle, probe questions of objectivity, distortion, and censorship, and the evolving market for images, and pay attention to important transitions in coverage (for example, from commercial photography and advertising to documentary photography and photojournalism). (Edited by staff)

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