Every day, clusters of Latino men and women line the streets of New York City's boroughs and affluent suburbs, looking for work. They clean houses and gutters; they mop the floors and landscape the grounds. And on any given day, there are 117,600 to 260,000 of them waiting on street corners across the United States, waiting for someone to offer them work. They are day laborers. They are jornaleros.
"Waiting for Work" is a collection of portraits of jornaleros. It creates a space where this often-nondescript group and singular mass becomes visible. Photographed in a portable studio in several soup kitchens and worker centers in and around New York City, "Waiting for Work" uses a simple visual approach that gives viewers the opportunity to look eye-to-eye with dozens of day laborers and learn their stories. Through viewing these personalized narratives, the exhibit provokes and supports viewers to consider their own reality, and the realities of those whom are ignored. By focusing on the act of documentation, itself, "Waiting For Work" challenges complacent assumptions about cultural difference and fosters cross-cultural engagement.
Opening Reception Oct 13, 2011 6-9 pm
Perfect Exposure Gallery
3519 West 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90020
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