Frederico Correa Child tomato picker visited by a bird

Kid Tomato Picker Visited by a Bird by Federico Correa

Federico Correa: Art and Memory

Frederico Correa Child tomato picker visited by a bird
Kid Tomato picker visited by a bird, by Federico Correa

Federico Correa posted this image of his painting on his Facebook page. It stirred me deeply, thinking about how we first met on the internet and how much time had passed since my father had stumbled upon him in 1958 picking carrots in a field in California’s central valley.

Children in the Fields, 1958, 1962.
1958, Monterey County, California. Carrot pickers. Federico is wearing the jacket on the right. Photo by Harvey Richards.

Harvey photographed the scene and the photo went into the archives where it sat in analog darkness until recently, some 50+ years later when I  put it up on the internet as part of the Harvey Richards Media Archive photo image collection. Federico saw it and contacted me. I published a blog post about that.

Federico Correa
Federico Correa

When I think about children picking fruit or veggies for California agribusiness, I think of long suffering hours in the heat of the valley. I don’t think of a moment like this, when the child is visited by a bird, leaving a memory, or a dream, to savor for years ahead. Life is like that and art is the means to communicate so much that words cannot. Thanks Federico.

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