California Documentary Project
Living Under the Trees
California Legal Assistance, Inc.
San Francisco
Project Director: David Bacon
Documenting Oaxacan farm worker communities in California
Triqui migrants from Oaxaca, Mexico work in the fields of prestigious wineries in Alexander Valley and at night return to tent settlements made of plastic-covered bamboo.
In Del Mar, one of San Diego’s most affluent suburbs, Oaxacan migrants harvest tomatoes, strawberries, oranges, and avocados and, until recently, lived on a hillside within sight of a new housing development, but now live over the crest of the same hill so residents don’t have to view their tents and other makeshift shelters.
This combination photography and oral history project documented the outdoor Oaxacan farm worker communities scattered on the edges of California cities, from San Diego to Santa Rosa.
Project Director and award-winning photographer David Bacon said, “The communities of indigenous Oaxacan farm workers are an important part of the state’s farm labor workforce, but are virtually invisible. This invisibility is sometimes, as in the case of Del Mar, what has been forced upon them, but often, it is the choice of the migrants themselves, anxious to avoid hostile neighbors or the authorities.
“This project gave visibility to these communities through documentary photography, and provided an opportunity for self expression to residents through interviews and oral histories.”
The photographs and accompany stories were exhibited at UC Merced, at California Legal Assistance offices and at a number of other venues. For more information about the project, visit http://dbacon.igc.org/Imgrants/imgrants.htm.