Calipatria Queen Market  

When I moved to the USA from Russia, I travelled extensively to see my new country. The Salton Sea area and the nearby territory was of particular interest as it felt like I was walking into another world, people and places I had never experienced in Russia. 

Calipatria Queen Market, is a series of photographs I made during my trips to Calipatria, a city in Imperial County, California. It has a population of 7,526 people, however, nearly half of them are inmates at the Calipatria State Prison. I spent time documenting the people in and around the community, where locals and visitors frequented – stopping for gas, pizza, groceries, alcohol, cigarettes, or just doing laundry at the laundromat next door. I talked to the patrons, listened to their stories, and photographed daily life at the market. The people were unpretentious and lived simply I was drawn to the fact that some locals were in the prison 7-12 times for different offenses. Unfortunately, their children grow up without opportunities; they, as well as some of the adults, are also like inmates, outside of the physical prison, but trapped in a very underprivileged community, where poverty and alcoholism are much too common.