Shot over four years, The New Forty-Niners documents the new wave of gold prospectors who have rushed to California 160 years after the original Gold Rush of 1849.

The tactile and earthy photographs show the gamblers, the adventurers, the desperate, the self-reliant and the young-at-heart in their camps and on claims spread across this magnificently wild landscape.

They document those who endeavor to make a living prospecting for ever elusive gold and the impact recent environmental legislation banning dredging equipment has had on their livelihood.

The New Forty-Niners juxtaposes the elemental rugged life of these passionate and obsessive individuals with gold souvenir shops, bars and motels celebrating the mining history of California, The Golden State.

— Sarina Finkelstein

Editor's note: Sarina Finkelstein will present this work and more in a lecture/slideshow at San Francisco PhotoAlliance on Friday May 9, 2014. Photographer Tina Barney will present the headline lecture the same night.

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