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| Don Bartletti is a
staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times and lives
in Vista, California. In a career that spans many decades, Bartletti
has covered events ranging from the Academy Awards to the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2003, he won the Pulitzer Prize for
Feature Photography. He was awarded the Pulitzer for a 6-part
series that documents the perilous journey of Central American
youths traveling north to the United States.
Enrique’s Journey documents Enrique’s amazing
and often dangerous travels through Central America, Mexico, and
the United States to find his mother. These photographs are part
of Bartletti’s
long-term focus on the dynamics of immigration from Latin America
to the United States and on the issue of migration throughout the
world. Highway Camp, Encinitas, California depicts five men from Guatemala sleeping above I-5 in Encinitas. Many Guatemalans speak only the dialect of their home villages and occupy the lowest rung on the economic ladder. These men are sleeping near a street corner below where they wait each day for offers of yard work or construction from area residents. Bartletti states “for many years I've been examining immigration issues, struggling to frame the dichotomy that inevitably accompanies cultural evolution. The composition helps me tell that story of contradiction. The diagonal line of traffic lights on the freeway divides the picture. On one side are the "haves" who streak along the freeway and mingle in the glare of a shopping center. In the other half of the composition are the "have-nots", 5 somnolent young men who are stalled in an unimaginable situation.”  (For Grades 9-12) If the photographer used a different vantage point, how would it change the impact of the photograph? Why? How has the photograph used elements of design and composition to accentuate the scene? How has immigration changed and shaped our history and nation? |
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Don Bartletti United States, born 1947 Highway Camp, Encinitas, California (Campamento en la Autopista), 1989 Gelatin silver print Collection Museum of Photographic Arts Gift of the artist 1993.003.001 © Museum of Photographic Arts |
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