Fine art photography is typically found on the walls of a gallery or displayed in homes. More often though, photographs end up confined to camera rolls. Naples-based photographer Michelle Tricca shares her philosophy as her 12-foot-tall, black and white portraits of Immokalee residents are stretched and fixed to an exterior wall at Lipman Family Farms in Immokalee.
“Photographs were made to be printed and installed massively like this on buildings on billboards,” said Tricca. “People have gotten so used to a momentary scroll on a newsfeed. These portraits are like kind of in your face, and I think they command undivided attention.”
For the past four and a half years, Tricca has been shooting portraits for a permanent exhibit called “The Face of Immokalee.” A majority of the photos are of children and young people who have grown and lived in Immokalee their entire lives. The public art project aims to change the outside perception of the community while humanizing its working population.
“They're no longer little kids,” said Tricca. “They're no longer elementary school students. They're these larger than life beings with hearts and souls, and emotions and conviction and a story to tell, and like, here it is.”
The portraits are being displayed on two of Lipman Family Farms’ 53-foot semi-trailer trucks and on two 50-foot walls of the company’s packing facility on East Main Street in Immokalee.
WGCU is currently working on a documentary about “The Face of Immokalee” project to premiere in June.
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