The city of Shafter might as well have been nowhere, tucked in between Bakersfield and Wasco in the Central Valley of California. One of those islands in the sea of farmland that blankets the middle of the state. Not much of a going concern.
No. 0024_11 - Migrant Child, Shafter, California. October of 2003
I passed through once, working with another photographer that I won’t bother to name, a friend and mentor that turned out to be neither. The migrant camp was quiet, off the grid, spartan to say the least, but children everywhere, in tow, moving with the harvest.
No. 0025_06 - Migrant Camp, Shafter, California. October of 2003
The photograph of the child on the bike always resonated with me. I was nearly finished with school at that time and my work was changing a great deal, starting to take shape, the way I was seeing things was beginning to shift. I submitted the image to a juried show along with a few other frames some years later. The curator rejected them and stated “you need to work on your craft.” Still one of my favorite photographs.
Excerpts from the series “Unwritten Notes” - Photographs Made Elsewhere.
Comprised of work spanning nearly 15 years, the series is largely autobiographical and draws entirely from images made on the road, away from home...
Prints available upon request.