Stoop Labor in Cotton Field, San Joaquin Valley, California

1938

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

23.5 × 30 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-864250

> *An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion* was published by Dorothea Lange and Paul Taylor in 1939 as a collaborative effort between "a photographer and a social scientist." The book was divided into six sections—Old South, Plantation under the Machine, Midcontinent, Plains, Dust Bowl, and Last West—each containing a portfolio of captioned images by Lange followed by a historical text by Taylor. The pictures in the first section consisted of field laborers and poor homes photographed in Alabama and Georgia. The anonymous cotton picker seen here serves to illustrate Taylor's essay, appearing just above his opening paragraph. Lange's view of the man's form make this difficult, exhausting work look graceful; the coarse cloth of his overalls and heavy bag crease and hang in beautiful ways. > > In the revised and expanded edition of *An American Exodus*, issued by the Oakland Museum in 1969, this picture is accompanied by a caption from Taylor's field notes from the San Joaquin Valley in November 1938: "Migratory cotton picker paid 75 cents per 100 pounds. A good day's pick is 200 pounds. CIO union strikers demand $1 per 100 pounds." According to *The WPA Guide to Californi…