“Holding On: What We Choose to Keep”

(Migration Narratives Project)

This project was supported by funding from the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life, made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. All images shot on medium format film. The written component is typed verbatim below each portrait for reading accessibility.

Our homes contain items that hold great personal significance, objects that represent our pride, humor, sorrow, hope. They reveal the lives we used to have, or the ones we hope to live. Each triptych portrait includes a person who has immigrated to the U.S., a household item they selected, and a handwritten note that describes why their chosen object is important to them and their identity as an immigrant.

What did people have to leave behind? What did they choose to bring with? What newfound items have brought meaning to their lives in America? As the project unfolds so too will nuanced stories, which I hope will provide viewers with an expanded perspective on the varied experiences of immigrants living in the U.S.

Raquel, Honduras

“Hana is a wooden tool to prepare a Garifuna dish called hudutu. As a Garifuna women I have the privilegy to bring this tool here. but at the same time I feel sad because our people has face a territorial dispossession forcing to crose the border and migrate here. At the same time we won’t have access to our own territory to get wooden to build hana’s and for our cultural survive.”

Abe, Germany

“This photography shows were I had my beginnings - in a country that began a terrible war, leaving millions dead, and yet out of this horror new lives and new hopes found new life. These hopes, however, were planted in America when my mother, sister and I sailed into NYC harbor greeted by the Statue of Liberty. Our new home provided the family with the knowledge that we would not be persecuted for who we were. An undeniable relief for my mother. But of new status as immigrants brought with it common hardships with regards to making a living and connecting to a new culture and its prejudices towards newcomers. Even after so many years, I still feel a kind of difference, whether good or bad, I don’t know, but it sometimes gives one the feeling if one is really at home.”

“Inside-painted bottle is a Chinese art form. It involves glass bottles which have pictures and often calligraphy painted on the inside surface of the glass. This one has southeastern China village life painted depicting village life resembling where I grow up. This reminds me of my childhood visiting morning market, going to relatives house for spring festival and all the sweets and good food we had with families and friends.” - translated by Xiu’s daughter, Elisa

Vlad, Croatia

“I found this planner from 1962 at my grandparents’ apartment after they passed away. It contains this beautiful map as Yugoslavia, my former country, when it was still whole. In the 1990s, Yugoslavia disintegrated in a series of civil wars. I lost my country and my family was scattered and fractured. Because of my ethically mixed background, my family left first Bosnia then Croatia for the U.S. But Yugoslavia will always be my homeland.”

Jean, India

“The statue was a gift from my 15 year old daughter when she worked in an ice cream shop. It reaches back to my Indian roots breaking the taboo against manual labor, that was part of my cultural inheritance. I was so proud of her and her independent spirit.”

James, Republic of Congo

“It’s because I love to study, that’s why, I love books and I love learning about the cultures of different countries, I love discovering that. Studying is my life, I dream to become an important person in society, I know that it won’t be easy, especially since I am alone here, but I believe in God, and with my willpower, I am certain everything will get better. I seriously love to study. I am still looking for someone who will help me with university, it would make me very happy if I found someone.” - translated by Jonathan Maurel

Yubelly, Colombia

“A ruana represents love, care and warmness. When I was growing up I used to wear one when it got cold in Bogota, the city where I was born and raised. When I became a mom, one of the gifts my parents gave my daughter was this ruana. It’s handmade and crafted in the town of Nobsa Boyaca, closer to the little town where my dad was born. The ruana reminds me of the mountains, the green valleys in Boyaca, the cold nights in Bogota, and seeing it wear my daughter brings back memories of my childhood and be proud of keeping customs I was raised.”

“I chose this object because it’s a gift from my family to me. It represent the Arabic culture. My dad was the president of our tribe. I adore him, that’s why I chose this object. Unfortunately, my dad passed away a few months ago. I chose this dallah to honor him.” - Qusay dictated his response, which I wrote down

“I chose to use childhood photo that was taken with a film camera when I was just learning to walk. Candid photos like that show so much real emotion, and my mom looks so happy there. She’s taught me so much courage. I cannot wait to see her again.”

Benz, Philippines

“I use my wounds into wisdom. I am a Human Trafficking Leadership Academy scholar. This pin represent leadership to resilience, freedom, and liberty of every victims and survivors of human trafficking in America and all over the world.”