Los Angeles-based photographer\, Sam Comen (b.1980) has long focused on themes of American identity\, community-buil ding\, immigration\, labor\, and social justice in his photography. In his series Working America\, which began in 2017\, Comen considers immigrant- Americans and first-generation Americans through the lens of the small and skilled trades\, re-engaging with the historical portrait approach that m asters of photography such as Eugè\;ne Atget (French\, 1857&ndash\;1 927)\, August Sander (German\, 1876&ndash\;1964)\, Dorothea Lange (America n\, 1895&ndash\;1965)\, and Irving Penn (American\, 1917&ndash\;2009) used to investigate identity\, vocation\, and status of their generations.
\n
Through these reverential portraits and accompanying quotes dra
wn from conversations with his subjects\, Comen both celebrates and questi
ons the ubiquitous American &ldquo\;bootstrap&rdquo\; narrative that self-
motivation and hard work leads to economic independence\, inclusion\, and
happiness.
"Walking and driving every day in my native Los Angeles
\, I look around and see an economically thriving microcosm of a multiraci
al\, immigrant America. The Armenian American shoemaker\, the Korean Ameri
can tailor\, the Mexican American machine operator working the late shift
in the last zipper factory left in the country. As the great-grandson of E
astern European Jewish immigrants\, I can&rsquo\;t help but think of this
as a contemporary analog to my forebears&rsquo\; late nineteenth century e
xperience in Chicago and Boston."
&ndash\;Sam Comen
...
as the nation entered into a second year of pandemic isolation\, Comen shi
fted his focus. He began to document workers that had been deemed &ldquo\;
essential&rdquo\;&mdash\;still\, many of them immigrant Americans and firs
t-generation Americans&mdash\;who were thrust to the front lines and asked
to keep on the job while the rest of society sheltered at home. This seri
es\, separately titled The Longest Shift\, honors workers&rsquo\; contribu
tions and resilience in a time of crisis\, and examines the economic and s
ocial forces that were exacerbated by the pandemic. Collectively\, these t
wo bodies of work offer a meditation on American belonging and American be
coming. The artist invites viewers to reflect upon their own families&rsqu
o\; origin stories\, to appreciate the values of work and service\, and to
consider how they might aid their fellow countrymen with the numerous cha
llenges they face in light of racism and xenophobia.
As a native Californian\, Sam Comen has
used his home state as a muse throughout his career and often looks to th
e places that define us for inspiration. He has long focused on themes of
American identity\, community-building\, immigration\, democracy\, and soc
ial justice in his photographic work. His portrait Jesus Sera\, Dishwasher
(2019) from the Working America series was awarded Second Prize in the pr
estigious triennial The Outwin: American Portraiture Today at the National
Portrait Gallery in 2019\, and his work was on view in there in the 2017&
ndash\;18 exhibition\, The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Worker
s. His photographs are collected by the Library of Congress\, Los Angeles
County Museum of Art\, and private collectors\, and he is regularly commis
sioned by brands and publications internationally.
The ab ove description is from The Programming Guide for Working America \;©\;2022 ExhibitsUSA\, a national program of Mid-America Arts Al liance
\nPhoto: Sam Comen\, Chris Capizzi and Jenny Yang\, Bookselle rs from the series Working America\, 2019\; Digital photograph\, 36 x 24 i nches\;Courtesy of the artist.
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