Pea Pickers Line Up on Edge of Field at Weigh Scale, near Calipatria, Imperial Valley, California, February 1939

Dorothea Lange made this photograph of pea pickers in California in February, no one knows exactly when, but the image speaks for itself. The frame feels like a scene from a movie. The workers are in the foreground, and the fields extend into the distance. It is an all-over composition, like a Jackson Pollock, but with these looming figures that anchor the piece. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be Lange, watching this landscape unfold before her very eyes and composing it through the lens of her camera. The pickers carry heavy loads, a strong diagonal gesture, creating a powerful feeling of labor. The photograph reminds me of the work of other photographers like Walker Evans, who were also interested in documenting the lives of ordinary people during the Great Depression. Ultimately, I think it is a testament to the human spirit in the face of adversity. Artists are always in dialogue, reflecting on and responding to the world around them, and that is what inspires me most.