Valley of Shadows and Dreams (Inscribed copy)

Light, Ken; Light, Melanie; Thomas Steinbeck

ISBN 10: 1597141720 / ISBN 13: 9781597141727

Published by Heyday, Berkeley, 2012

About this Item

(USA) 1st printing. INSCRIBED BY AUTHORS: " Thanks for supporting PAN/ Ken Light/ Melane Light", no other markings, Near Fine in about Fine dust jacket with top edge not quite crisp. Boards, 154pp, B&W photos of agricultural workers and laborers in the San Joaquin Valley in California. A heavy book. (3.0 JM HOJ 302/1 Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12".

Seller Inventory # 78450

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Valley of Shadows and Dreams (Inscribed copy)
• Publisher: Heyday, Berkeley
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1597141720
• ISBN 13: 9781597141727
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Inscribed By Authors
• Seller catalogs:
  • Non-fiction
  • Inscribed or Signed Non-fiction Books
  • Americana
  • Photography, Cameras, Photographers

About this title

Synopsis

Ken and Melanie Light have embarked on a photographic and literary exploration of a region known for its agricultural plenty--and the marginalization of its people. In Valley of Shadows and Dreams they dig deep into the harsh truths of farm workers' daily experience, revealing a deep sense of anger and betrayal toward the destructive legacies of politics, bureaucracy, and control.

The Lights show us once-viable farmland transformed into neighborhoods full of empty tract homes that no workers can afford. We are confonted head-on with the devastating results of foreclosure. We stand in the Community Center food line in Mendota, we slip magically onto a midnight dance floor with migrant workers in Tulare, and we sail out across the San Joaquin River on a rope swing. These photos and stories capture scenes of hardworking people fighting to preserve their livelihoods and traditions. With an introduction by Thomas Steinbeck and impassioned essays by Melanie Light about the importance of recognizing and rectifying the cycle of employers oppressing workers, Valley of Shadows and Dreams uncovers the realities of life in this troubled but vital region that are often hidden and difficult to capture.

About the Author

Ken Light is a social documentary photographer whose published work includes Coal Hollow, Witness in Our Time, Texas Death Row, Delta Time, To the Promised Land, and With These Hands. He has exhibited internationally, received numerous grants and awards, and is an adjunct professor at and director of the Center for Photography at the University of California, Berkeley.

Melanie Light is a writer whose most recent book is Coal Hollow. She has published two special edition books: Night at the Met, with photographs by Larry Fink, and Mad Day Out, featuring rare photos of the Beatles. She is the cofounding executive director of Fotovision, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the international community of documentary photographers, and she has received grants from the Soros Documentary Fund and the Rosenberg Foundation. She teaches and lectures internationally.