Renwick's Photography honoured In Women Photograph: 2019 Year in Pictures
The intimate and powerful imagery of the lives of migrant workers featured in the series Bitter Harvest was recognized by the Women Photograph group in its 2019 Year in Pictures. The collection, which honours the work of 100 members of the non-profit group, this year included the work of photographer Melissa Renwick, who worked with journalist Sarah Mojtehedzadeh to produce Bitter Harvest.
MELISSA RENWICK
www.melissarenwick.com | @melissarenwick
Blanca Estela Rodrîguez Islas, 30, comforts her two children, Lesli, 10, and Luis Angel, 7, as her mother, a migrant worker, prepares to depart to Canada from their home in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Each year that her mother travels back to Canada, Islas fears she will suffer an accident and will not return. Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program does not offer the possibility of moving to the country permanently. Many workers spend most of their adult lives — for eight months of year, sometimes up to 40 years — split between two countries, without ever gaining permanent status in Canada.
From the series "Bitter Harvest," which was supported by the R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship.