Oyster Farm

The Oysterman

Photographs of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company

Evvy took these photographs at the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, the last operating oyster cannery in California, documenting its final year. Located in the rural Point Reyes National Seashore near her home, the oyster farm was operated by lease agreement with the National Park Service. When it was announced that this lease would not be renewed, disputes over environmental philosophies and concepts of wilderness erupted.

Opposing views bitterly divided the rural community in which the oyster farm was located and Evvy wanted to put a human face on these controversies. She decided to photograph of the daily activities at the farm and to create portraits of the immigrant workers whose jobs and homes were threatened.

Legal issues were debated at local, state, and national levels. The US Supreme Court finally denied a hearing of the case and the farm was ordered to close. Evvy returned to photograph the deserted site before its demolition.