The Californians Powering America
October 16 – December 31, 2025
San Fernando Library and La Cañada Flintridge Library
Shining a Light on the Invisible Labor Behind California’s Economy
In partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and Magnum Photographers, The Californians Powering America is a powerful, immersive photography exhibit featuring six compelling photo essays that illuminate the immigrant labor force driving California’s most vital industries—from agriculture and construction to caregiving and fire recovery.
At a time when immigrant communities are increasingly marginalized, this exhibit tells their stories with empathy, intimacy, and urgency. The Californians Powering America invites you to see the humanity behind its workforce. These are the faces and stories of the people who make the California Dream possible. From the Central Valley’s farmlands to Los Angeles kitchens and clinics, immigrants are fueling agriculture, construction, food service, healthcare, and more.
Through the work of award-winning photographers and storytellers, Californians Powering America puts a human face on this invisible workforce, capturing both their daily struggles and deep resilience.
Featured Artists
Matt Black lives in the Central Valley where he has long chronicled the lives of the region’s overlooked immigrant labor driving U.S. agriculture. His contribution is a short documentary that layers stark imagery of the region’s emptied fields with the voices of immigrants impacted by changes in federal deportation policies.
Yael Martinez first came to California from Mexico in 2007 at the age of 21, hoping to earn enough money to buy a camera. He joined his uncle in El Cajon, San Diego County, and worked in construction for over a year and a half, alongside other family members who were building lives in industries like food service, construction, and landscaping. In his first photo essay, Martinez returns to El Cajon to document the lives and work of his relatives, offering a personal look at the experiences of a multigenerational migrant family. His second project shifts to Los Angeles, where he photographs workers—many of them immigrants—helping communities recover from wildfires by clearing debris, rebuilding homes, and providing support, often while facing significant personal and professional challenges.
Sabiha Çimen, born in Istanbul, brings her own immigrant perspective to photo essays showcasing caregiving and food culture among Los Angeles’ immigrant communities. In intimate, multi-layered portraits of Korean nurses and Middle Eastern Muslim immigrants in Los Angeles, we see the quiet labor that goes into caregiving and feeding the community, centering those who play critical roles in the nourishment of others yet often remain unseen. Through intimate photography and personal interviews, Çimen explores not only these immigrants’ work, but how they live, what they carry, and how they preserve their dignity in the face of structural invisibility.
Thanks to Our Partners
