Mothers at work. A gathering to celebrate anther wedding was held outside some apartments. These two mothers were watching the children while a big pot of rice was being prepared on an outside stove. The boys just collapsed in their arms. Poplar Grove, a suburb of Salt Lake City, 2009
Somaliland Utah
Thomas Szalay | Utah, United States
Photographer: Thomas Szalay
Exhibit Title: Somaliland Utah
Location: Utah, United States
Somaliland, Utah
In 2007, young refugee students started to arrive in my classroom at West High School in Salt Lake City. They asked me to photograph them and soon after, I received requests to photograph family birthday parties and weddings. A long-term project began that introduced me to these new residents who grew up in refugee camps half a world away.
These images capture their lives as they assimilate into our nation’s norms. Most live in apartments, where the color of fabrics covering the walls changes with the seasons. Their tight-knit communities bring a colorful perspective about their culture in this conservative Utah. This selection of images has several themes, which could easily become a small book: Color, Reportage, and StudioPortraits.
. My photographs capture a chance moment in the dance of life or reveal the character in a portrait. I desire that these images might teach the viewer about the lives of refugees who arrived from camps and landed in big cities all over the USA. May the images provoke joy, sympathy, and understanding and enhance our common awareness of being human.
In 2007, young refugee students started to arrive in my classroom at West High School in Salt Lake City. They asked me to photograph them and soon after, I received requests to photograph family birthday parties and weddings. A long-term project began that introduced me to these new residents who grew up in refugee camps half a world away.
These images capture their lives as they assimilate into our nation’s norms. Most live in apartments, where the color of fabrics covering the walls changes with the seasons. Their tight-knit communities bring a colorful perspective about their culture in this conservative Utah. This selection of images has several themes, which could easily become a small book: Color, Reportage, and StudioPortraits.
I found good fortune in my two careers. Teaching photography for 22 years fulfilled a desire to expose youth to the narrative power of the still image. In the 1980s and 90s, I was a newspaper photojournalist who concentrated on documentary projects and photo essays. There I learned how thecamera can become a doorway into a story about life, or a community.
My style is straightforward. My photographs are honest images, capturing a chance moment in the dance of life, or revealing character in a portrait. I desire that these images might teach the viewer about the lives of refugees who arrived from camps and landed in big cities all over the USA. May the images provoke joy, sympathy, and understanding and enhance our common awareness of being human.
I may have taught them photography or art in school. They taught me the beauty of Cultural Diversity.
Thank you for your time.
Tom
links:
Even The Sparrow Has Found A Home.
book by Thomas B Szalay about his experience documenting the lives of Romanian Orphans from 1991-2016
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