This collection consists of photographic materials from the Photographer Ernest Lowe over the course of his career. The bulk of materials that can be found within the collection are contact sheets, prints, slides, and negatives. The primary subject of his photographs are California farm workers in the Central Valley. While on assignment Lowe began to photograph communities in the Central Valley that lacked paved roads, running water, electricity, and other essential services. What Lowe found was a cohesive and caring community that looked after one another. Low. photographs captured the dignity, strength, and perseverance of these communities. While reporting, Lowe followed the early unionization by Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and the United Farm Workers/National Farmworkers Organization. A selection of records are from Lowe's project returning to Central Valley in 2015, where he revisited communities that that he spends time in the beginning of his career and documenting the changes. The bulk of the collection reflects this work.

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Copyright is retained by Ernest Lowe. The artist has granted the University of California permission to transmit the works under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC 4.0) license. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

This collection is open for research by request, as it is currently being processed. Once processing is complete the collection will be open for research. The collection is located at the University of California, Merced Library. For help locating material and making a research request please contact library@ucmerced.edu.