“Domestic Workers Photo exhibit portrays workers on the job” by Leslie Berestein Rojas

LAist |

A one-night pop-up art exhibit Thursday aims to capture the work and lives of local domestic workers, photographed in portraits and on the job. The exhibit is part of a larger campaign for domestic worker rights and safety in California.

The images, shot by photographers Joe Ramos and Riccardo Stanley Mejia, depict workers in Southern and Northern California in their work environment. One woman sits for a portrait with her cleaning tools. Another is photographed on the job, caring for an elderly client.

Titled “Rights & Realities: Domestic Workers’ Fight for Health & Safety,” the exhibit is part of a larger campaign for domestic worker rights and safety in California.

Norma Miranda, a long-time nanny who lives in Tarzana, is pictured at a bus stop. She takes the bus from home to her job in Redondo Beach three times a week — a trip that takes at least two hours. She pays the bus fare.

Miranda, who came to the U.S. long ago from Peru, explained why she wanted to participate.

Speaking in Spanish, she said that sometimes “people don’t respect us, saying ‘she’s just a domestic worker’ or ‘she’s just a nanny’. We want for people to hear our voices, that we are listened to and respected.”

Many of those photographed are domestic worker leaders, and the exhibit will include written testimony from some of them. The exhibit is organized by the California Domestic Workers Coalition, one of several groups that have been pushing state legislators for a domestic worker safety law.