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More of Matt Black's, work with commentary.
Matt Black: California’s Agricultural Industry
Inauguration day. Canal. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Matt Black lives in (the) Central Valley, California, where he has chronicled the lives of overlooked immigrant workers driving U.S. agriculture. In Black’s expansive shots, empty fields, abandoned crop rows and sites of agricultural materials make up the haunting filaments of the region’s deserted farmlands. Caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s immigration policies, agricultural workers fear detention or deportation; an estimated 90% of California’s 600,000 farm laborers are undocumented, and the nationwide crackdown has sent scores of them into hiding.
Irrigation line. Five Points, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, approximately 27% of the state’s population is foreign-born — the highest immigrant population in the nation — making it a target in recent months. The silent traces of undervalued labor in Black’s work are symbolic of a disquieting reality: federal deportation policies have threatened not only the state’s economy but livelihoods and entire communities.
Black’s project took him to rural towns such as Mendota, where over 40% of the population is estimated to be undocumented, and San Joaquin, where numbers reach 80%. If an agricultural worker is the primary earner of a household, their deportation can have severe effects on the entire family.
Orchard removal. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Cotton gin. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Employers face financial strain as well. “Following Border Patrol raids that targeted Central Valley farmworkers earlier in the month, many employers are concerned with having a sufficient workforce to plant and harvest crops. Agriculture remains one of California’s largest industries, generating over $50 billion each year,” he writes.
Downtown. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Matt Black: California’s Agricultural Industry
Inauguration day. Canal. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Matt Black lives in (the) Central Valley, California, where he has chronicled the lives of overlooked immigrant workers driving U.S. agriculture. In Black’s expansive shots, empty fields, abandoned crop rows and sites of agricultural materials make up the haunting filaments of the region’s deserted farmlands. Caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s immigration policies, agricultural workers fear detention or deportation; an estimated 90% of California’s 600,000 farm laborers are undocumented, and the nationwide crackdown has sent scores of them into hiding.
Irrigation line. Five Points, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, approximately 27% of the state’s population is foreign-born — the highest immigrant population in the nation — making it a target in recent months. The silent traces of undervalued labor in Black’s work are symbolic of a disquieting reality: federal deportation policies have threatened not only the state’s economy but livelihoods and entire communities.
Black’s project took him to rural towns such as Mendota, where over 40% of the population is estimated to be undocumented, and San Joaquin, where numbers reach 80%. If an agricultural worker is the primary earner of a household, their deportation can have severe effects on the entire family.
Orchard removal. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Cotton gin. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Employers face financial strain as well. “Following Border Patrol raids that targeted Central Valley farmworkers earlier in the month, many employers are concerned with having a sufficient workforce to plant and harvest crops. Agriculture remains one of California’s largest industries, generating over $50 billion each year,” he writes.
Downtown. Mendota, California. 2025. © Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Cal Gal
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Harriet Heyman
Capybara on the Move
View: https://vimeo.com/1106171565?fl=pl&fe=sh
Years ago a pair of capybaras at the San Francisco Zoo caught my attention. They looked like two barrels, with stubby feet and a blocky trapezoidal head. They didn’t do much. But I was drawn to their shape. I squirreled it away for another day.
The idea re-emerged four years ago. In clay I modeled small capybaras. I played. I exaggerated. Webbed feet and claws grew more prominent. The head acquired finer features. The hind end expanded into stately proportions that reminded me of my dad’s 1947 Dodge. In the much larger version in this film, the most difficult part was the texture. The creature had to look as if it had just come out of the river, water sluicing down channels in its fur.
Today the capybara watches over a spiky succulent garden in front of our house. I can’t wait to see torrents of rain spilling down its broad back.
- Harriet Heyman
Capybara on the Move
View: https://vimeo.com/1106171565?fl=pl&fe=sh
Years ago a pair of capybaras at the San Francisco Zoo caught my attention. They looked like two barrels, with stubby feet and a blocky trapezoidal head. They didn’t do much. But I was drawn to their shape. I squirreled it away for another day.
The idea re-emerged four years ago. In clay I modeled small capybaras. I played. I exaggerated. Webbed feet and claws grew more prominent. The head acquired finer features. The hind end expanded into stately proportions that reminded me of my dad’s 1947 Dodge. In the much larger version in this film, the most difficult part was the texture. The creature had to look as if it had just come out of the river, water sluicing down channels in its fur.
Today the capybara watches over a spiky succulent garden in front of our house. I can’t wait to see torrents of rain spilling down its broad back.
- Harriet Heyman
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