In the Fall of 1988, I drove a Volkswagen bug from San Francisco to the Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, California. The Alexander Valley is considered one of the most important regions in California for producing premium wine. Under the Alexander Valley Road Bridge that ran across the Russian River, nearly 100 migrant farm workers from Mexico and Central America had set-up a camp to live in while they worked in the vineyards during the autumn harvesting season.
When I arrived at the camp, I was invited to stay with a family living in a carpet-lined wooden box under the bridge. As I was making a portrait of the family in their “home,” there was a poignant moment when a blanket fell and exposed a large television set in
the back of the box. There was no electricity in the camp, yet the family had been packing this television set around from one camp to the next, and now it was here.
Over the next few months, I followed them and others into the vineyards and watched
them work from sunrise until the late afternoon. Sundays were the only day off from
working. Although the harvesting was done predominantly by the men, the entire family would work the vines, including the children. Early one morning, the vineyard foreman
remarked on how hard-working the entire family was, including the children – You’ve got to start them while they’re young to get the most out of them.
Returning to the camp in the afternoon each day, we would share meals and enjoy each
others’ company with talk and music. While the family slept in their box, I slept curled up in the backseat of the Volkswagen parked under the bridge.
Los Vendimiadores (1988 - 1989) experiences the lives of migrant grapepickers in the vineyards and while living with them under the bridge.
20 – 14 x 11 inch archival pigment prints on Canson Prestige II
1 text sheet on Canson Rag Photographique
1 map on Canson Rag Photographique
1 index sheet on Canson Prestige II
Bookcloth covered book binders boards with 2 tipped-in images on covers
Tri-fold binding with four-flap archival folder
14-3/8 x 11-3/8 x 1-1/8 inches
COLLECTIONS
University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library Pictorial Collections, Berkeley, California
University of California, Davis, Shields Special Collections, Davis, California
University of California, Santa Cruz, McHenry Library, Special Collections, Santa Cruz, California