Adolescent discovery and adjusting to a new culture, when taken separately, can be daunting. Taken together, being a teenager and an immigrant can present a kind of double whammy. Photographer Barbara Beirne explores more than 50 new immigrants’ experiences in her black-and-white photo survey, 'Becoming American: Teenagers and Immigration,' which is at times both optimistic and a visual testament to a crisis of identity.
Beirne, whose documentation of the immigrant experience began with Kosovar Albanian refugees in the former Yugoslavia, offers a sensitive portrait to the hardships and courage of American newcomers, a perfect exhibit to kick off San Diego's New Americans Museum. Added bonus: the AJA Project, a nonprofit that empowers refugee youth to use photography to share their stories, will also be featuring photo work with "A Contemporary Story: Perspectives by Immigrant and Refugee Artists."
“Becoming American: Teenagers & Immigration” premiered in New York City March 10, 2007 at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and is part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and continues on a national tour through 2011.
last modified July 22, 2008Tip Sheet
The open house event heralding San Diego's first-ever museum about the immigrant experience takes place on Saturday, June 21, 2008, from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Free ethnic entertainment, tours and a talk by Barbara Beirne at 1:30 p.m.Reader reviews
Average reader rating:
1 Reader Review
Terms of Use
By TRPR on 6/12/2008
There is a free open house with world music, dance and a gallery talk on Saturday, June 21 from 11-4. www.newamericansmuseum.org
report this