Exhibit captures decades of farmworker resilience in NorCal
David Bacon, a California-based photographer, writer, social activist and union organizer has dedicated most of his career to documenting labor history. Bacon traveled to Eureka to showcase his latest exhibit.
Bacon’s recent traveling exhibit, “In Camps, Under Trees and Evicted, Farm Workers and People Living Close to the Line in Northern California”, documents 35 years of experiences, struggles, strengths and the resilience of farmworkers in Northern California. The exhibition commemorates the 60th anniversary of the 1965 farmworker strike, demonstrating the lived laborworker experience, as well as diving into agriculture, California history and social political movements of the 20th century through black and white images.
Bacon’s photography is currently being held at Centro del Pueblo, located at 3008 Broadway in Eureka. Through collaboration, the exhibit was able to travel from the previous UC Davis Labor and Community Center location to Centro del Pueblo. The exhibit’s initial opening reception was held on Sept. 26 from 5-7 p.m., but will continue to stay up until Nov. 3, and is free and open to the public. The exhibit is open during Centro del Pueblo’s normal weekly hours, which can be found on their webpage.
Peyton Leone, an employee at Centro del Pueblo, shared that the exhibit has brought the community together, allowing for open discussions to take place about attendees’ own lived experiences.
“For me, it was a nice full circle, I see my own families in some of those pictures, not literally, but you know, in their stories and the type of work that they’re doing.”
Centro del Pueblo hopes to do more exhibits like this in the future and encourages any artist of interest to reach out to them. Leone mentioned that an upcoming workshop will be held on photography, its movement and the struggle for working people.
“These are important photos that highlight people’s lives, people’s struggles, making people aware that workers have autonomy in the fight, in their own struggles for dignity, for housing, for better wages and should be treated just like everyone else,” Leone said. “So I’m hoping through workshops we can invite students or different people out to the office and see our gallery and learn more about photography.”
More details can be found on Centro del Pueblo’s Instagram page @centrodelpueblo.
