LA County Library Launches The Californians Powering America Photography Exhibit in Partnership with Economic Hardship Reporting Project and Magnum Photos

Exhibit to Run October 16 – December 31, 2025 at San Fernando Library and La Cañada Flintridge Library

Los Angeles County, CA — LA County Library is pleased to announce the launch of The Californians Powering America, a compelling photography exhibit in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and Magnum Photos. This powerful showcase will be on display from October 16 through December 31, 2025, at San Fernando Library and La Cañada Flintridge Library.

The Californians Powering America features six immersive visual stories that highlight the vital contributions of immigrant laborers across California’s key industries—including agriculture, construction, caregiving, and wildfire recovery. At a time when immigrant communities face increasing marginalization, this exhibit brings their stories to the forefront with empathy, depth, and humanity.

Through the lens of award-winning Magnum photographers and storytellers, visitors will gain an intimate look at the resilience, struggles, and everyday realities of the people powering America’s economy—from Central Valley farms to Los Angeles restaurants, homes, and hospitals.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during library hours.

“This exhibit is a moving tribute to the invisible labor that makes California thrive,” said Dr. Skye Patrick, County Librarian and Director of LA County Library. “We are honored to bring these stories to our community and offer a platform for deeper understanding and appreciation.”

“Every photograph in this exhibit is a striking testament to the endurance of communities who sustain our country, yet whose stories are too often overlooked,” said Deborah Jian Lee, Senior Editor at the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. “These stories spotlight the people who feed, care for and sustain us, embodying EHRP’s mission to produce journalism that exposes inequality, reveals our shared destinies and empowers the public to confront systemic hardship.”

“This is a project that has adapted, grown, and been reshaped within the changing context in which the migrant laborer lives in California and in the US at large,” said Giulietta Palumbo, Global Editorial Director at Magnum Photos. “Magnum will continue to document these challenging times and the human beings who are living in them, while always standing for the open dialogue that only arts and its tools can bring. This exhibition is about this dialogue.”

To celebrate the launch of The Californians Powering America, the Library will host a reception on Thursday, October 16 at San Fernando Library at 6 pm.

Members of the public are invited to join the free reception, which will feature a viewing of the photography exhibit and a conversation with Dr. Skye Patrick, Deborah Jian Lee of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, Giulietta Palumbo from Magnum Photos, and Magnum photographer Sabiha Çimen.

In addition, the Library will host a special family workshop called, The Story of Us: Preserving Family Legacies Through Image, Art and Sound, held at San Fernando Library on October 18 from 1 to 2:30 pm.

This workshop will feature photos from Sabiha Cimen’s book, Hafiz, and will include an activity where families can decorate photo albums to take home.

For more information about the exhibit and upcoming events, please visit LACountyLibrary.org/Californians-Powering-America.

About LA County Library

LA County Library belongs to our communities and serves as a portal to learn, grow, and succeed. Founded in 1912, it is one of the largest and most innovative library systems in the US, and was awarded the nation’s highest honor—the National Medal for Museum and Library Service—in 2023. Dedicated to reducing barriers and increasing access for all through culturally responsive and dynamic collections, programs, and services, LA County Library serves 3.4 million residents across 3,000 square miles through its 86 libraries and 15-vehicle mobile fleet, including Bookmobiles, MākMō maker mobiles, Reading Machines, and outreach vehicles. To learn more, visit LACountyLibrary.org and follow @LACountyLibrary on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.

CONTACT: pio@library.lacounty.gov

About Economic Hardship Reporting Project

The Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP) is a beacon, a home, an outlet, and a support system for independent and working class journalists who have been laid off or painfully underpaid, and whose critically-minded reporting gets short shrift. Our broad body of work—which includes features, investigations, photo essays, podcasts, books, illustrations, poetry and documentaries—is widely distributed, reaching millions of people a year. Our work has been featured in 100+ media outlets such as Teen Vogue, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, TIME and NPR. EHRP has had a significant impact on policy and garnered great critical acclaim. Our coverage unpacks the ways American life has become unforgiving and unaffordable to ordinary people, and surfaces solutions on a more equitable way forward.

CONTACT: info@economichardship.org

About Magnum Photos

Magnum Photos is a cooperative of acclaimed, independent photographers who share an ongoing commitment to capture the state of the world and drive for a change. Founded in 1947, Magnum curates stories of the past while continuing to tell stories of today, defining the present and shaping the future through photography. United by its values of authenticity, excellence, and respect, with more than 6.6 million followers online, strong media relationships around the world, and a rolling program of exhibitions and events across the globe, Magnum photographers continue to inspire a growing worldwide audience.

CONTACT: contact@magnumphotos.com