Hmong Photographic History & Culture Archive
Welcome!
From 2004 through 2014, Photographer Joel Pickford and a support team of scholars, social workers and interpreters captured more than 40,000 digital images of the Hmong Diaspora in California’s Central Valley and in the homeland of Northern Laos.
California subjects photographed include refugees arriving at the airport, substandard housing conditions, shamanic ceremonies, farming and community gardens, weddings, funerals, Hmong businesses, Hmong veterans, Hmong politicians, Hmong protest rallies, traditional Hmong art forms, new year festivals, and the Hmong American cultural fusion.
In Laos, the work documented Hmong village life, traditional architecture, farming practices, shamanic ceremonies, funerals, the lingering impact of American bombing during the Secret War, Hmong traditional arts, new year festivities, Hmong-operated small enterprises and prosperous Hmong business owners.
Funded by multiple grants from the James Irvine Foundation and Cal Humanities, the project resulted in publication of a hardcover book, Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey Through the Hmong Diaspora (Heyday 2012), a three gallery exhibition at the Fresno Art Museum and a separate exhibition at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Art Museum. Soul Calling also served as the published thesis for an interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree at Fresno State University.
This research collection comprises approximately 2,500 selected photographs organized into 87 subject galleries. Every picture is captioned and each subject gallery includes a narrative text.
The project introduces a new way of thinking about documentary photography as a long term art form. As time passes and the world changes, the images will become more valuable to historians, anthropologists, and descendants of Hmong families who appear in them. The pictures will outlive the people who created them. An essay exploring on this topic is coming to the archive next year.
The Hmong Photographic Archive makes its debut with approximately 30 percent of the collection online and available 24/7 for researchers and the general public. Each year, new subject galleries and images will be added with continued support from the City of Fresno Measure P Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Fund. We anticipate completing the project in 2028.
All photographs and texts in the archive are copyrighted. Permission to use any of this material in print or electronic publication must be obtained by contacting us. Permission will usually be granted free for scholarly research and publications, classroom lectures or presentations, and for family members of the people in the photographs. Licensing fees will apply to commercial publication and widely disseminated educational curriculum.
Thank you!
Do you see yourself or any family members in these photographs? We would love to meet you again and learn more about your family’s story since the photos were taken. Please get in touch.
If you would like to request photographs for a research project or publication, just list the photo file names in your message. For example: "I would like to have a copy of Ban Pha Keo-26."
We can provide digital copies in a variety of file formats and resolution sizes, depending on your needs. Be sure to include a brief description of your research project.
Soul Calling Team Members
Joel Pickford, photographer and writer
Dr. Henry Delcore, project advisor and professor of anthropology at California State University, Fresno (CSUF)
Tout Tou Bounthapanya, trilingual interpreter and social worker
Kristie Lee, bilingual interpreter and social worker
David Lee, bilingual interpreter and teacher
Song Lee, bilingual interpreter and professor of education
Yer Lor Lee, Hmong shaman master and culture advisor
Bee Yang, professor of social work and culture advisor
Neng Thao Lee, Hmong clan leader and culture advisor
Paula Yang, bilingual interpreter and Hmong community activist
Wayne Vang, trilingual interpreter
Kim Thompson, former housing project director for Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM)
Long Vang, trilingual interpreter and guide, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos
Toua Moua, trilingual interpreter and guide, Luang Prabang Province, Laos
Toua Her, CSUF student intern
Challencen Vang, CSUF student intern
Graduate Thesis Committee
Prof. Steven Church, creative writing, committee chair
Dr. Henry Delcore, anthropology
Dr. Lillian Faderman, English and creative writing
Project Partner Organizations
Cal Humanities, California Stories Initiative, funding partner
The James Irvine Foundation, funding partner
Fresno Historical Society
Center for Documentary Arts
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries
The Hmong Photographic Archive is funded by the City of Fresno Measure P Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Fund.
© 2026 Joel Pickford. All rights reserved.