How One Photographer Is Mapping America’s Poverty

5 minute read

For more than 20 years, photographer Matt Black has been exploring issues of poverty, migration and farming in California’s Central Valley, painting a picture of extreme economic hardship in one of the country’s richest states.

Last year, he took to Instagram for his latest project, Geography of Poverty, using the social app’s mapping feature to pinpoint California’s poorest communities. His goal was “to get people that are on Instagram to picture themselves in these places,” he said in December after being named TIME’s Instagram Photographer of the Year.

Now, after spending two decades concentrating on California’s Central Valley, Black is expanding his project to the rest of the country.

“Occasionally, with my work in the Central Valley, I get the feeling that people can dismiss it by saying that it’s happening in some weird place in the middle of nowhere in California; that it’s an outlier,” he tells TIME. “But I know very well that the Central Valley is not an outlier. You can find similar communities and similar circumstances throughout the country.”

This knowledge forms the basis of the second chapter of Geography of Poverty, one that is taking the 44-year-old photographer all over the country, from California to Oregon, Louisiana, Tennessee and New York, among many other states.

Published by MSNBC, Black’s extended Geography of Poverty project is composed of two elements — the photographer’s road trip across America, plus four extended reports, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Trymaine Lee, that provide more context to the issue of poverty and economic hardship in four regions of the country. “You get the scope and breadth of the story through Matt’s road trip, but you also get a deeper dive from Trymaine,” says Amy Pereira, MSNBC’s director of photography.

For Black, the goal was to use the road as a storytelling mechanism. “Every stop along the way has a level of poverty above 20%,” he says. “I wanted to find a continuous route that linked all of these towns, which are no more than a couple of hundred miles from each other. And the fact that you can link all of these communities from coast to coast and back again is telling.”

As Black travels across America, he shows the people and communities he’s photographing a map where he’s marked all of his stops. “A lot of people have been blown away by it,” he says, as they’ve realized that “it’s not so much about the individual circumstances as it is about the collective whole.”

“What really dawned on me is how connected these places are,” he adds. “I’ve driven all the way across the country, but in a lot of ways I feel I still haven’t left the Central Valley. It feels like one place. Uniting them in this kind of visual document is challenging but immensely satisfying because it feels like I’m making a statement that needs to be made.”

The overall project, while not unprecedented in scope, has necessitated the heavy involvement of teams of developers and designers at MSNBC, says Pereira, as the entire hosting platform had to be coded from the ground up, especially when it came to linking Black’s Instagram posts to MSNBC’s mapping feature.

The photographer also had to seek additional financing from external organizations such as the Magnum Foundation, the Pulitzer Center — a foundation that usually funds non-domestic projects — and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. “I think it’s heartening for photographers to know that it’s possible,” says Black. “You [can] put something together like this and get the resources to do it.”

For Pereira, Black’s personality and personal experience are part of the project’s overall success. “Matt has a sensitive and keen eye,” she says. “His humanity is so inherent that you can’t help but feel it in his images. He’s devoted his life work to telling a story of people who are very marginalized by their social-economic situation. He’s spent his whole life around these communities. He understands this on an intimate level. There are more than 45 million people living in poverty in the U.S. and people don’t want to see it. They’re busy with their own struggles and their own lives. Matt is showing people in a sensitive way.”

Matt Black Is TIME’s Pick for Instagram Photographer of the Year 2014

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Fence post. Allensworth, CA. Allensworth is a town in Tulare County, California. The population is 471 and 54% live below the poverty level. 35°51'53"N 119°23'21"W Matt Black
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Trees. Alpaugh, CA. Alpaugh is a town in Tulare County, California. The population is 1,026 and 55.4% live below the poverty level. 35°53'15"N 119°29'12"W Matt Black
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Mailbox. Teviston, CA. Teviston is a town in Tulare County, California. The population is 1,214 and 65.6% live below the poverty level. 35°55'13"N 119°16'51"W Matt Black
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Apartment. Pixley, CA. Pixley is a town in Tulare County, California. The population is 3,310 and 39.3% live below the poverty level. 35°58'7"N 119°17'30"W Matt Black
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Farmworker camp. Alpaugh, CA. Alpaugh is an town in Tulare County, California. The population is 1,026 and 55.4% live below the poverty level. 35°53'16"N 119°29'14"WMatt Black
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Fresno is California's sixth largest city and is the southern Central Valley's dominant metropolitan area. Backed up trains line the tracks in the city's warehouse district.Matt Black
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Store window. Riverdale, CA. Riverdale is a town in Fresno County, California. The population is 3,153 and 30.5% live below the poverty level. 36°25'51"N 119°51'33"WMatt Black
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A dead palm tree. Shafter, CA. Extensive fracking is sparking conflict between agricultural and oil interests in the southern Central Valley's Kern County.Matt Black
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Guard dog. Mendota, CA. Mendota is a city in Fresno County, California. The population is 11,014 and 45.6% live below the poverty level. 36°45'13"N 120°22'53"W Matt Black
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Vegetable picker. Firebaugh, CA. Firebaugh is a city in Fresno County, California. The population is 7,549 and 34.9% live below the poverty level. 36°51'22"N 120°27'18"WMatt Black
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Ditchbank. Fresno, CA. Sinamon and Aaron bathe at an irrigation canal near their homeless encampment on the outskirts of Fresno.Matt Black
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A dove perches on a post in Sinamon and Aaron's homeless encampment on the outskirts of Fresno.Matt Black
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Displaced when the city of Fresno forced the closure of several homeless encampments, Sinamon now lives in a makeshift home she built in a vacant lot just feet beyond city limits.Matt Black
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Sinamon carries firewood to the makeshift home she built in an empty lot just outside of Fresno.Matt Black
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Fear of eviction and a rash of thefts have increased Sinamon and Aaron's vigilance. They watch as an unidentified man approaches their homeless encampment on the outskirts of Fresno.Matt Black
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Scratched window. Stratford, CA. Stratford is a town in Kings County, California. The population is 1,277 and 39.2% live below the poverty level. 36°11'21"N 119°49'24"WMatt Black
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The deepest drought in California's recorded history is fallowing an estimated 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmland this year.Matt Black
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Shopping Cart. Bakersfield, CA. Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California. The population is 347,483 and 19.3% live below the poverty level. 35°22'23"N 119°1'6"W Matt Black
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Gang tag. Le Grand, CA. Le Grand is a town in Merced County, California. The population is 1,659 and 25% live below the poverty level. 37°13'43"N 120°14'53"W Matt Black
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Fence. Weedpatch, CA. Weedpatch is a city in Kern County, California. The population is 2,658 and 41.8% live below the poverty level. 35°14'17"N 118°54'53"W Matt Black
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Presidents' day decorations in downtown Firebaugh, CA. 80% of the town's population works in agriculture. A third of its downtown storefronts are shuttered.Matt Black
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Wall. Kerman, CA. Kerman is a city in Fresno County, California. The population is 13,544 and 24.5% live below the poverty level. 36°44'3"N 120°3'36"W Matt Black
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A shuttered business in Huron, CA. For two seeks each winter and spring, nearly all lettuce grown in the US comes from Huron's fields. Over half the town’s population lives below the poverty line.Matt Black
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Graffiti. Exeter, CA. Exeter is a city in Tulare County, California. The population is 10,334 and 26.8% live below the poverty level. 36°17'45"N 119°8'31"W Matt Black
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Front door. Taft, CA. Taft is a city in Kern County, California. The population is 9,327 and 15.4% live below the poverty level. 35°8'33"N 119°27'23"W Matt Black
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A flea market in Tulare, CA. The town draws its name from the reeds that once lined a nearby lake. Its water was diverted for agriculture and the lake has been dry for nearly fifty years.Matt Black
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Fallowed fields. Huron, CA. Job losses from drought are pushing unemployment past 50% in some Central Valley towns.Matt Black
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Burned field. Los Banos, CA. Los Banos is a city in Merced County, California. The population is 35,972 and 24.8% live below the poverty level. 37°3'31"N 120°50'58"W Matt Black
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Sheep bones bake under a mid-summer sun near Alpaugh, CA. Dought related agricultural losses in the Central Valley are expected to top $1.5 billion this year.Matt Black
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A shepherd's camp in a dry wheat field. Mendota, CA. His water for drinking, bathing and cooking comes from this 55-gallon drum.Matt Black
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Sheep are herded across a dry wheat field near Mendota, CA. Most wheat fields failed to germinate this year due to lack of rain.Matt Black
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Almond hulls are dried a stacked for cattle feed at a processing facility near Coalinga, CA.Matt Black
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Crop duster markers. Corcoran, CA. Corcoran is a city in Kings County, California. The population is 24,813 and 28% live below the poverty level. 36°5'53"N 119°33'37"W Matt Black
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Dust blows across a barren field at dusk near Avenal, CA. Nearly half a million acres of California farmland went unplanted this year due to drought, an area twice the size of Manhattan.Matt Black
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The head of a dead bull hung to dry near Firebaugh, CA. "California's gonna die," a rancher describing the drought said. "This whole valley's going to blow away like dust." Matt Black

Matt Black is a freelance photographer based in California. Follow him on Instagram @mattblack_blackmatt. See more of Geography of Poverty project on MSNBC.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent.

The Geography of Poverty USA - El Paso, TX. El Paso is a city in El Paso County, Texas. The population is 649,121 and 21.5% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
El Paso, Texas. The population is 649,121 and 21.5% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - Sunrise Manor, NV.  Boots. Sunrise Manor is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada. The population is 189,372 and 24.1% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
Sunrise Manor, Nev. Boots. Sunrise Manor is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nev. The population is 189,372 and 24.1% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - McAllen, TX.  Jumping the border fence. McAllen is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas. The population is 129,877 and 26.7% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
McAllen, Texas. Jumping the border fence. McAllen is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas. The population is 129,877 and 26.7% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - Starr County, TX. Circus sign. Starr County’s population is 60,968 and 39.2% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
Starr County, Texas. Circus sign. Starr County’s population is 60,968 and 39.2% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
Gallup, NM.  A man sleeping next to a house was questioned by police.  Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico. The population is 21,678 and 21.9% live below the poverty level. Gallup has the highest violent crime rate in the state of New Mexico. In 2012, violent crime was nearly five times the national average. #geographyofpoverty
Gallup, N.M. A man sleeping next to a house was questioned by police. Gallup is a city in McKinley County, N.M. The population is 21,678 and 21.9% live below the poverty level. Gallup has the highest violent crime rate in the state. In 2012, violent crime was nearly five times the national average.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - Laredo, TX. Laredo is a city in Webb County, Texas. The population is 236,091 and 30.8% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
Laredo, Texas. Laredo is a city in Webb County, Texas. The population is 236,091 and 30.8% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
Brownsville, TX. Downtown graffiti. Brownsville is a city in Cameron County, Texas. The population is 175,023 and 35.3% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
Brownsville, Texas. Downtown graffiti. Brownsville is a city in Cameron County, Texas. The population is 175,023 and 35.3% live below the poverty level. Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - Santa Maria, CA.  Strawberry field scarecrow. “When I first arrived, I had no shoes when I worked in the fields.  I used to sleep by a tree because I didn’t had money for rent. I barely made money for food.  But everybody goes through this, there is a lot of suffering and that’s it.”  Irene Lopez, 51, field worker. #geographyofpoverty
Santa Maria, Calif. Strawberry field scarecrow. “When I first arrived, I had no shoes when I worked in the fields. I used to sleep by a tree because I didn’t had money for rent. I barely made money for food. But everybody goes through this, there is a lot of suffering and that’s it.” Irene Lopez, 51, field worker. Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - The remains of an unidentified migrant discovered in Brooks County, Texas, await forensic analysis. The bodies of twenty-six border crossers have been found so far this year in the rural Texas county, the nation's second poorest. #geographyofpoverty
The remains of an unidentified migrant discovered in Brooks County, Texas, await forensic analysis. The bodies of 26 border crossers have been found so far this year in the rural Texas county, the nation's second poorest.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
The Geography of Poverty USA - McAllen, TX.  A family from Honduras detained at the border. McAllen is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas. The population is 129,877 and 26.7% live below the poverty level. #geographyofpoverty
McAllen, Texas. A family from Honduras detained at the border. McAllen is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas. The population is 129,877 and 26.7% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos
Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Backyard. Doña Ana’s population is 209,233 and 27.0% live below the poverty level.  #geographyofpoverty
Doña Ana County, N.M. Backyard. Doña Ana’s population is 209,233 and 27.0% live below the poverty level.Matt Black—Magnum Photos

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