‘There’s wisdom here’: Artist uses photography to share farmworkers’ stories
By Jacquelyn Quinones
Click here for updates on this story
WATSONVILLE, California (KSBW) — Alex Rocha-Alvarez, who grew up in Jardines del Valle, also known as Murphy’s Camp, a former labor camp turned farmworker community, is using photography to share the stories of farmworkers.
“Both of my parents are farm workers from Michoacán, Mexico, and I feel like my story and my drive has always come from the stories that I heard from people like my parents, from my neighbors,” Rocha-Alvarez said.
Growing up on farmland without internet access, Rocha-Alvarez said she often felt isolated but found connection through the stories of her neighbors.
“I felt always very surrounded by the stories of farm workers growing up and felt like nobody else in the world really understood what it was like to grow up in a place like this,” she said.
Rocha-Alvarez said she wanted to help others understand the lives of farmworkers.
“There’s a lot here, and people who come from the outside see it almost as if they’re looking down on farmworkers,” she said. “I always thought that there is wisdom here, resilience here, there’s stories here that if other people heard them, it would make them better.”
As the first in her family to attend college, Rocha-Alvarez studied on the East Coast before pursuing a Ph.D. in ethnic studies at UC Berkeley.
“I studied on the East Coast and felt always like my community is like the wind on my back, making me want to make it further and further,” she said.
After graduating, Rocha-Alvarez returned to Watsonville and began a photography project inspired by her upbringing. She visited labor camps like the one she grew up in, taking portraits of farmworkers and encouraging them to share their stories.
“We always see them out on the fields, bent over. I wanted to get pictures of themselves in a place that they feel powerful, that they feel at home,” she said.
As she collected portraits and oral histories, Rocha-Alvarez said the experience was transformative.
“The sort of stories that I was hearing were not unfamiliar to me. They were very similar to my parents’ stories, but it made it so I wasn’t feeling as isolated or as alone anymore,” she said.
This work led to the creation of “Palabra Campesina,” or “The Farmworker’s Word,” a platform where Rocha-Alvarez shares these stories online with limited public access to protect the privacy of the farmworker community.
Rocha-Alvarez has since been recognized by the Santa Cruz Arts Council Fellowship Program for her efforts to highlight the farmworking community and preserve their stories.
“It’s making them feel like the seeds that they’ve planted for us are being watered, they’re growing,” she said.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.