–Story and Photos by Crystal Davis–
For many of us, we often forget the toils that our very own parents went through to become citizens. However, for certain people, the journey and suffering have only begun.
The debut of Women’s and Gender Studies professor, Dr. Catherine Raissiguier’s and Photography major, Leona Strassberg-Steine’s first public exhibition of Migration Stories had a tremendous impact.
Dr. Raissiguier explained the purpose of the exhibit, “Leona came to me as an independent study student. We talked about collaborating on a project that had been a work in progress. The purpose of this exhibit it to show the first generation immigrants of staff and students from NJCU, where we take formal portraits and ask them for a personal narrative.”
Portrait after portrait displayed some of NJCU’s immigrant students, faculty and staff, along with a personal statement about a significant time in their lives. This project touches upon the parts of the human soul that deals with personal realization. This gallery show opened a mirror that revealed the past that we experienced or were too young to experience.
“The most moving experience about preparing this show was getting to photograph each person for an hour to an hour and a half. Within that time they gave their personal stories while they were being photographed,” Leona explained, while staff and students trickled into the opening reception.
There was a true sense of exploration while entering the room and it is the idea of actually getting to absorb the liveliness of the person[s] you may have a class with or have seen around campus. And it is the idea of thinking about how truly diverse our campus here at NJCU truly is.
“Somewhere … everybody is an immigrant. Everyone has a story. And immigrants being topsy-turvy by not really belonging,’ Leona paused to look around at the portraits. ‘Immigrants from all around the world, immigrants as refugees, they all have their own stories. And I am thankful for falling … and being in the right place at the right time.”
Where did you come from?