Rick Nahmias never thought he would be doing what he is today. A former film student with no passion for film and a self interested attitude has come a long way.”I never thought I was someone who had a direction to do something inspirational,” said Nahmias during his presentation of The Migrant Project at De Anza College on May 10. In the spring of 2002, Nahmias set out to photograph and document migrant workers in over 50 rural communities all over the state of California. A key motivation for Nahmias was to put a human face on a huge population of mainly forgotten people. Of the state’s 36 million people, 1.1 million are migrant workers. Since its conclusion in 2003, the Migrant Project has become the subject of many museum, college, and cultural center tours for Nahmias, as well as an inspiration for programs and organizations interested in raising awareness about the situation and struggles of the modern migrant worker. Nahmias began his career at NYU, accepted mainly because of his great photography and not for his grades. His inspiration for documenting the people who live on the margins of mainstream life began with his love for taking pictures. “Every film student starts with still imaging,” said Nahmias. “I did do some film work, but even from the beginning I loved photography. It gives you a certain autonomic freedom and intimacy with your subject.” “It came to a point where I wanted to merge my art and my politics.” Since 2003, Nahmias has continued to update and progress his work from the Migrant Project, creating the fair food project, which includes a multimedia presentation called “Fair Food: Field to Table,” and is another way he has brought attention to the issues of the migrant worker. His appearance at De Anza was something that Tom Izu, a faculty member from the California History Center on campus, has wanted for over two years when he first heard about Nahmias’ work. “He puts a real face to the migrants, those who are forgotten by the media and by most of us,” said Izu. “I believe that work like this is really important.” Budgetary concerns and scheduling conflicts prevented Nahmias from coming to De Anza until this recent opportunity, and some classes on campus took advantage. Teacher Marc Coronado brought her English writing class and her Mexican American literature class to view the presentation. Both classes have studied about migrant workers recently. Nahmias continues to be involved with unconventional groups of people. He recently completed a the Golden State Grace project, profiling different religious groups in California, including Zen Buddhists in San Quentin, Jews recovering from drug addictions in Los Angeles, and Trans Genders participating in a Gospel Choir in San Francisco. He will exhibit this work at the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University in 2012. Something to look forward to.