La récolte du café 1970

Gherasim Luca’s surrealist collage, “La récolte du café,” or "The Coffee Harvest," layers a photograph of coffee pickers with superimposed images of tools and diagrams. Luca, a Romanian Jewish émigré, was deeply affected by the Holocaust and his personal experiences of displacement informed his exploration of themes like alienation. In this piece, the depiction of laborers in what appears to be a colonial setting is juxtaposed with seemingly unrelated objects, creating a jarring sense of disconnection. One might consider how this juxtaposition reflects the distance between the consumer and the exploited labor inherent in the global economy. The superimposed images—isolated and decontextualized—mirror the fragmentation experienced by marginalized individuals, in this case highlighting the anonymity and dehumanization often associated with labor. This collage invites us to reflect on the complex layers of power, identity, and history embedded within seemingly simple commodities, revealing the profound human cost behind our daily routines.