A couple weeks ago I got my first call from the NY Times, catching me totally off-guard. They sent me to El Centro, CA where the unemployment rate is the highest in the country. The immigration from Mexicali has over saturated the job market in the agriculturally-dependent area, leaving jobs scarce and unreliable. I spent two 15-hour days mainly driving aimlessly in my car searching for ways to illustrate the problems in the town. I worked a bit with the writer for specific photos of people mentioned in the story, but was basically on my own. All the years of relentless feature hunting for classes or internships was finally put to the test. This was my most memorable freelance assignment to date and hope to have many more like it in the future. The story can be viewed here.
