Artist Talk and Book Signing: Ken & Melanie Light, Valley of Shadows and Dreams September 28, 2012

Carte Blanche is pleased to invite you to its new artists' talk and book signing event featuring Ken Light and Melanie Light and their work "Valley of Shadows and Dreams" Friday, Septemeber 28th, from 6-8 pm.
Ken and Melanie Light embarked on a five-year photographic journey of a region known for its agricultural plenty – and the marginalization of its people. In their book, “Valley of Shadows and Dreams,” the Lights dig deep into the harsh truths of farm workers’ daily experiences in California’s Central Valley and take a hard look at the legacies of politics, bureaucracy and control in the region.
"We were astonished by the frenzy of development there. Massive tracts of agricultural land were being turned into cul de sacs and suburban neighborhoods. Though we started to explore that story, we soon discovered a complex web that went far beyond residential development. As we witnessed the real estate bubble implode in the valley, we expanded our story to what I can only describe as a slow motion train wreck of unsustainability. This project gripped me at many levels because the issues are played out in the valley American style but they are the global challenges of our generation: water, land use, population, growing economic disparity. It will be fascinating to see how the pressure between a growing population and the limits of the earth unfolds; how the challenges are met or how we fail to find a model for sustainability."