CLARKSTON, GEORGIA (Current Project): Documentary

In the past twenty years nearly 50,000 refugees have settled in and around Clarkston, Georgia, a small town ten miles east of Atlanta. This series of portraits focuses on Somali Bantu and Sudanese families. Recent Board of Health estimates show that over 71% of these refugees in Clarkston are female, and all of those, as implied by their refugee status, are survivors of civil conflict, war, torture, trauma, rape and/or genocide. Having traveled thousands of miles for the promise of a new start, these families arrive in the US filled with tremendous hope for a better life

This project began in 2004 while working as the still photographer for the PBS film, Rain in a Dry Land, a documentary that followed the resettlement of two Somali Bantu families in America.

The Bantu, who were denied access to education and jobs, were almost completely untouched by modern life. Few could read or write in any language, and almost none spoke English. Most had never seen a light switch, a telephone, a set of stairs, or even a building that wasn’t made of mud. For the past six years, I have had the privilege of getting to know these families, and have been witness to their overwhelming spirit and resilience as they assimilate to American life, while still preserving the traditions of their culture.