Every Worker is an Organizer: Photographs by David Bacon Exhibited at the State Capitol
Every Worker is an Organizer
Fhotographs by David Bacon
This exhibit in the California State Capitol is organized by Assembly Member Luis Alejo and his staff, and is part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Farm Workers of America.
California State Capitol
Hallway next to the Governor’s Office
May 20-26, 2012
Sacramento, California
Open to the public
Farm labor is a key element historically in the photographic documentation of social reality in the US, and in particular the documentation of social protest. Dorothea Lange, Hansel Meith, Otto Hegel, and the generation of the 1930s and 1940s left a body of work showing the extreme exploitation of farm workers, and documenting the early farm labor organizing efforts, part of the great labor upsurge of those decades.
The iconography of social documentary photography was shaped by images like Lange’s mother and children in Nipomo, or those of the Pixley cotton strikers packed onto the back of a truck under their banner “Disarm the rich farmer or arm the workers for self-defense!” or the growers with their rifles waiting in ambush.
The first two decades of the growth of the United Farm Workers was undoubtedly one of the most-photographed social protests of the civil rights era. It too had its icons — the line of marchers on their way from Delano to Sacramento, silhoutted against the sky, or Cesar Chavez weakened by his fast, at the side of Robert Kennedy.
In 1994, a year after the death of Chavez, the union made a second march from Delano to Sacramento. In 1996, it began an effort to organize the central California coast strawberry industry, employing 25,000 workers. That struggle pitted workers and the union against mass firings, blacklists, company unions, and the use of the legal structure to subvert workers’ efforts. In 1998, workers at the country’s then second-largest vegetable grower, D’Arrigo Brothers walked out on strike in the Salinas Valley
The photographs in this exhibit document this period in the union’s history, especially the organizing drive in Watsonville and the strike at D’Arrigo. Some also document working lives of workers themselves. Strawberry pickers bend over double in the rows, run as they pick wine grapes or tomatoes, or balance at the top of date palms without safety lines. They show as well the extreme youth of farm workers today, where the average age has fallen to 20.
Like all workers, farm laborers take pride in the skill it takes to do their jobs, their bravery in the face of dangerous conditions (farm labor has one of the highest occupational injury rates of all US employment), and the social contribution they make in providing food for millions of people.
These are not images of passive exploitation, designed to elicit just a sympathetic response. They are a documentary record of the efforts workers have made to organize a union in the face of brutal working conditions and low wages.
The images are a view from below, looking at the work process and the union from the point of view of workers.
The UFW has had an enormous impact on the US labor movement over the last 50 years. It helped to inspire a resurgence of interest in organizing, and trained hundreds of people who went on to become organizers for unions and community organizations all across the country.
These photographs are part of a larger exhibition and documentary project about farm workers and migration tody. This set of images was exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California, the U.S. Labor College, Bread and Roses Gallery and the American Labor Museum, thanks to support from the Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the Zellerbach Foundation.
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Leica’s New M Monochrom Snaps Only Black-and-White Photos
Not to hate on digital, but why does the industry try to invent cameras that get you closer to the effects of black and white film photography when the tools to create film photography are already here?
Leica’s New M Monochrom Snaps Only Black-and-White Photos
By Will Greenwald, May 10, 2012 04:01pm EST
PC Mag
Black-and-white photography has long been considered a bastion of film photographers. It provides stark contrasts, looks unique, and can be readily developed by enthusiasts (unlike color photography, which is a much more involved process). Black-and-white photos taken on digital cameras are generally considered inferior for many reasons.
Leica is planning to change that with the M Monochrom, an 18-megapixel rangefinder that stands as the first digital camera designed specifically for black-and-white photography.
According to Leica, the M Monochrom’s sensor only records luminance values for each pixel, capturing light in a manner similar to black-and-white film, which doesn’t differentiate color. Leica claims these “true” black-and-white exposures are sharper than similar pictures taken on a color camera. The camera has a raw data histogram display that lets users see exactly how each picture exposes, and with a clipping display lets users correct exposures on the camera.
The M Monochrom uses Leica’s M system, so it’s compatible with all Leica M system lenses. Leica has not yet announced pricing for North America, but it will likely retail for around $8,000 when it ships in July, comparable to the company’s other rangefinders. This won’t be a camera for enthusiastic amateurs.
For other photography professionals, Leica announced the S-Adapter H, which lets users of Leica’s S-system professional cameras use Hasselblad H-system lenses. For context, Leica S-system cameras can cost over $20,000, and even the lenses for Leica and Hasselblad professional cameras are worth thousands of dollars.
On the other end of the spectrum, Leica announced a new compact digital camera, the X2. This 16-megapixel camera is a color fixed-lens camera with an APS-C-format sensor similar in size to the sensors found in most digital SLRs. It uses a 24mm f/2.8 prime lens, and features a 2.7-inch LCD screen. At approximately $2,000, it’s an attractive camera for rangefinder enthusiasts and photographers looking for a second camera that breaks from the SLR format.
Something Different: Art and Photography Show by Abraham Menor
OOOOHHHHHH….We are so excited about this show. Thanks for being our friend Abraham Menor! His shows make you feel like you’re in the middle of a box of photos.
Look what I can do!
Check out Adam developing his film with his own vitamin C process.
Got any creative ways to develop or print film you want to try our??
let us know we are always down to help.
April Fast-track Black and White Film Development Class!
Monthly happening at De-bug so if you want to know how they did it before digital, come through! 
Beginning Black and White Film Photo Class at Darkroom
We gotta let Kodak know that over here in San Jose, we’re keeping film alive, and we know they’ll come back bigger and stronger. So in their honor, we’re kickin off March with our first Black and White Film Photo Class at Darkroom! Sign up cuz spaces are limited!
Valley of Shadows and Dreams
Now Showing
VALLEY OF SHADOWS & DREAMS
A Heyday book
Photography by Ken Light
Text by Melanie Light
Forward by Thomas Steinbeck
January 17-May 15,2012
(save the date)
Reception & Book Signing
Friday, March 16th
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“Valley of Shadows and Dreams explores a different California from the one that most people know—
a California far from Hollywood and Malibu and San Francisco, a California that in some elemental respects
has not changed much since the days of the Spanish conquistadors. The same sort of manual labor prevails in the fields,
the same exploitation of the weakest and poorest still blights the land. In this book you will find a powerful indictment
not only of what has happened lately in America’s largest state, but also of what is happening across this country right now.
The abuse of illegal immigrants, environmental degradation, the madness of a real estate bubble, and all the other problems
of the Central Valley are unfortunately relevant nationwide. Ken and Melanie Light bring great compassion and an eye for
beauty to this subject, facing hard truths but refusing to despair. As John Steinbeck argued more than seventy years ago,
the demand for justice and the need for true democracy are timeless, essential things.”
—Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Center for Photography
Corner of Hearst & Euclid, Berkeley
Reception 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Talk by the Authors & Special Guest 7:00-9:00 P.M.
Free & open to the public
Directions <http://journalism.berkeley.edu/misc/directions/>
New Glassclops — So International….
Check out the new issue of Glassclops featuring super stunning photography by San Jose native son Abraham Menor, Stephen Brown, Aaron Cho, Paul Glover, Vladimir Tikay, and Kasha Guilfoyle-Jackson.
New Show: This Camera Fights Fascism
The title alone should get you to go!
This Camera Fights Fascism:
The Photographs of David Bacon and Francisco Dominguez
de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
July 29 – December 4, 2011 and January 14 – February 5, 2012
Tuesday – Sunday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Opening Thursday, September 22nd, 6PM
David Bacon and Francisco Dominguez have both followed in the tradition of Depression-era photographers such as Dorothea Lange, focusing their cameras on struggle, dissent, immigrants, and workers. Their photographs speak to the global character of contemporary migration. Like the so-called Okies of the Depression, many of today’s migrants have been displaced by environmental degradation and wider economic forces.
The title of this exhibition refers to a sign that 1930s folk musician Woody Guthrie often had on his guitar, “This Machine Kills Fascists.” These two photographers build a powerful body of visual evidence of the continuing struggle of workers, migrants, and poor people to survive. In this exhibition the photographers responded to images by Dorothea Lange and selected photographs from their own work that draw close connections between the 1930s and today.
David Bacon is a photojournalist who has documented the movements of farm workers, social protest from Iraq and Mexico to the U.S., and the migration of people. He is the author of several books, and many of the images in this show are from Communities Without Borders, Images and Words from the World of Migration.
Francisco Dominguez is a photographer and printmaker. His parents both were farm workers. He documents the struggles of indigenous, immigrant, and poor people in black and white photography.
- Art Hazelwood, Guest Curator
To view the slide show please go to:
http://www.scu.edu/desaisset/exhibitions/Camera-Slide.cfm
Love to Virginia’s Paul Glover
What — a photographer who shoots almost exclusively in film!! Yes!! 3,000 miles can separate us but we are showing love to Paul Glover who is based in Salem, Virginia.
Check out his site at www.paulglover.net and his flickr below…
Beginning Black and White Photography Class!
Sign up now before the class fills up! You can sign up by emailing us at thedarkroomatdebug@gmail.com or filling the form out below:
It’s Here! Like it, love it, pass it on. GlassClops
Brought to you by De-Bug, Glassclops is set out to capture the medium that we love. As photographers, we realized that with the great downsizing of film products, we are at risk of losing a great art form. We do this magazine as a response to this pattern, and out of love. Our goal is to keep film alive, we feel the only way that we can do this is by partnering up with other photographers, photo magazines, blogs or anyone interested in film photography. In this we hope that we can promote Glassclops on your website, blog or something as simple as through your social network (Facebook,Twitter ect.). Also, please contact us if you would like to honor us with film images for an upcoming issue.
In this issue we feature: David Bacon (a world renowned photojournalist), Braulio Gonzalez ( a student photographer on the rise from East Palo Alto), Ronald Orlando (a musician photographer with profound images), Felipe R. Vasquez of Newark Califas (a photographer with keen eye for chicano culture imagery), and Charisse Domingo ( a photo journalist who showed us her first image she made).
If we unite digital won’t take over film, but just become a different medium.
This photo belongs to Rosary from San Jose who is a high school student who thinks film doesn’t like her. But check out her first go at night-time photography. Nice view of the bridge!
Black and White Film Photography/ Photo Story Class at De-Bug!
The Beginner Classes are back, and they’re back with a twist. In addition to teaching you the basic craft of black and white film development, we’re assigning students stories/ articles for De-Bug online and/or print publication. So you get to learn, and you can get published. What?! Sign up for the class by emailing us at thedarkroomatdebug@gmail.com or going to: http://darkroomatdebug.com/classes/
Abraham’s Back: Philippines Funk
One of our favorite hometown photographers, Abraham Menor, is back in San Jose with lots of photos from his journey to the Motherland. He spent the holidays in the Philippines and has the photos to prove it. Check out the homeland through his eyes….
“(Taking pictures with film) is very kind of rebellious against the digital age… that’s why I like it”
True words spoken by Molly Gardner, a film student at the Lomography Gallery Store in West Hollywood. Yes, film is still cool! Check out the article here that appeared in Southern California Public Radio….
LA shutterbugs take an analog approach to photography
Outside a storefront in West Hollywood, a crew of photographers – amateurs and professionals alike – fan out to capture the neighborhood on analog film. The group was part of a hands-on workshop devoted to the quirky Lomo cameras, which carry with them their own unpredictable aesthetic, spontaneous approach, and trademarked artistic community that rivals that of the mighty Polaroid. More….
Film Photography is Alive and Well
Arts Association of the East Bay Exposure Photography Program here at De-Bug
Teacher: Felipe Vasquez, Photos by Tiburon FB!
RIP Kodachrome Film
While Kodak stopped manufacturing this old-skool color film last year, the last of the Kodachrome rolls were processed late last year… Thanks for the memories, Kodachrome! If a roll is still tucked away in your bag or preserved in your fridge, consider yourself one of the Lucky ones.
http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20110103/rolls-kodachrome-processed/
