Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Life inside a US trailer park: 13 intimate portraits from California

Photographer David Waldorf explored the homes of people living in a trailer park in California.

IN HIS NEW photo series, photographer David Waldorf gives us a glimpse of life inside the US trailer park.

Waldorf photographed the residents of the Brookside Trailer Park in Sonoma, California, over several months, trading printed portraits for time with his subjects.

The veteran photographer chose Brookside Park because he had a mutual friend with the owner, so he was able to easily gain permission to speak with residents. Waldorf told Business Insider he has “always kind of liked trailer parks”.

Waldorf said he gained trust from the locals and became friends with them over the five-month project. ”I enjoy talking with the people who have had a harder life and who are a lot more open to telling their stories,” he said. “For me, I think their stories are little more interesting.”

Waldorf says when he first entered the park, the residents were hesitant to speak with him and didn’t want him in their homes.

PastedImage-67407

However, once he took a few photos of them and showed them the results, they spread the word in the community and suddenly, everyone wanted their photos taken with their families.

PastedImage-58467

On his second day, he stayed taking photos until 1am.

PastedImage-23539

Once he knew he was onto something, Waldorf returned to the park every couple of weeks to shoot more.

PastedImage-32286

Cody, the son in the photo below, has epidermolysis bullosa, a skin disorder which causes blisters. “He was just a really nice kid,” Waldorf said. Because of his disease, Waldorf originally thought Cody was 14 or 15, but he was actually in his 20s at the time. His family ended up liking this portrait so much that they blew it up and put it on their wall. Today, Cody is living in his own apartment, according to Waldorf.

PastedImage-71488

These three brothers, all of whom worked at Walgreens, stood out to him as well. He had them wear their uniforms in this shot because one of them had to go to work right after.

PastedImage-15290

Waldorf adds that they were a lot of fun to hang out with, too.

PastedImage-89071

He says he also enjoyed photographing this grandmother and granddaughter.

PastedImage-24396

Certain shoots were memorable, as well. During the making of the photo on the left, Waldorf said the mother shouted for the daughter to join her, even though she was showering. For the photo on the right, he said he brought a taxidermied fox to place in the corner of the shot.

PastedImage-41288

He said staging the shots were part of the fun for him, artistically.

PastedImage-17934

A group of migrant workers who labored in the nearby Sonoma fields also lived in the park.

PastedImage-98774

There is a strong sense of community in the park, according to the photographer.

PastedImage-46796

He added that regardless of circumstances, the residents really looked out for each other.

PastedImage-64180

Into the Wild: Here’s what life looks like when you abandon civilisation

Young faces of war: Syrian children bereaved, homeless and losing hope

Dublin Before the Tiger: Incredibly detailed images of the city in the 1980s

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Published with permission from
View 37 comments
Close
37 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jed I. Knight
    Favourite Jed I. Knight
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 7:38 PM

    I’m guessing their target audience isn’t rural Ireland???

    95
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ina Smidiríní
    Favourite Ina Smidiríní
    Report
    Feb 6th 2014, 1:24 AM

    No they would be talking about places like Africa I presume.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute SuperFry
    Favourite SuperFry
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 7:47 PM

    Great another reason for people to think I’ll email them back immediately.

    53
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gobblor
    Favourite Gobblor
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 8:10 PM

    End world hunger? No! Wifi for all!

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute PerkyBeans
    Favourite PerkyBeans
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 9:50 PM

    You can download food,
    Torrent a bag of spuds

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Drew Clarke
    Favourite Drew Clarke
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 8:31 PM

    please hurry up. I’m being charged e80 a month by onwave for a 20mb connection and I rarely get above 1.5mb. In fact my upload speed is 4 times faster than my download speed 9 times out of ten.

    Someone needs to do an expose on satellite broadband speeds in Ireland. It’s a rip off and needs to be exposed.

    43
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Horan
    Favourite John Horan
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 8:10 PM

    One way, so more like aertel then actual internet then.

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute SuperFry
    Favourite SuperFry
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 8:12 PM

    WAP is back!!

    23
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Horan
    Favourite John Horan
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 10:11 PM

    WAP was still two way. This, like aertel, is one way, so you would receive all the possible pages in one small subset of the internet and hopefully whatever page you want to look at is contained in there.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute family guy
    Favourite family guy
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 8:03 PM

    The mother in laws house has very bad mobile and broadband coverage. Nice to go out there and forget about the phone for a while. This might put an end to this.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gobblor
    Favourite Gobblor
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 9:11 PM

    Or you could just turn it off? DUH!

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Swan
    Favourite John Swan
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 9:38 PM

    What’ll happen to all those fiber optic cables being put in all over the country then? Also, hate to be a stickler about this, but what about the EMF/radiation exposure this would cause? The health implications would really need to be thoroughly and independently investigated.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gabrielle Humphreys
    Favourite Gabrielle Humphreys
    Report
    Feb 7th 2014, 10:04 PM

    What do you mean John, can you explain to me a wee bit more, gay

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alien8
    Favourite Alien8
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 9:15 PM

    Minimum orbit is 300km, max wifi usually 30m (Max theoretical TDMA range is around 15km). I get the feeling this is an investor trick, but they’ll have to come up with new ideas. Also transmitters for 2 way are over a metre in size for rubbish internet – even Niall Quinn couldn’t sell you that.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Daniel Rea
    Favourite Daniel Rea
    Report
    Feb 5th 2014, 8:38 PM

    Well if the scientists are right there’ll be no bees left and say goodbye to fertile men

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.