Jeffrey LaMonde | The Saginaw News
Pauline Lawrence of Bridgeport looks at photographs at the “Becoming American: Teenagers & Immigration” exhibit at the Castle Museum, 500 Federal Ave. in Saginaw.
When Barbara Beirne combed schools, churches, mosques and refugee service organizations around the country for teens who had immigrated to America in recent years, “I always wanted to be introduced to them by someone they trusted,” said the New Jersey-based photographer. “It didn’t seem fair to them, it wouldn’t be very thoughtful, if I approached them without the assurance of somebody who knew me and said it was OK.
“But one of the biggest surprises I had was that, instead of being hesitant and shy, the young people were so glad someone wanted to tell their stories. They wanted others to know why they were here and what they had been through. They didn’t just show up.”
For nearly 10 years, Beirne took their pictures, gathered their stories and shared them with her children and grandchildren as she developed her work into an exhibit, “Becoming American: Teenagers & Immigration.” And the Smithsonian Traveling Photography Exhibition is now at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History’s Centennial Hall, where the 59 black-and-white photos and stories will remain until Feb. 4.
“Compelling” is the word Ken Santa uses to describe Beirne’s work.
“It’s told from an artist’s perspective, the photographs along with the teens’ stories, told in their own words in a paragraph or two,” said the museum’s executive director. “It’s so simple, but so compelling. They’re excited to be here. They’re overwhelmingly positive. And when you see how, even today, with everything going on, everyone still wants to come here, it makes you appreciate what we often take for granted.
“I can’t envision living anywhere else.”
The participating teens, ranging in age from 13 through 18, came here from all over the world — India, Africa, Cambodia, Mexico, to name a few — and they’re in varying stages of transition, Santa said.
A 17-year-old boy from Colombia say, “I can be myself here.” A 15-year-old tells how his family had to flee the Congo and live in a refugee camp in Zambia before coming here, “and now I can go to school,” he said. “This country is good.”
An Egyptian teen tells how, when she came here, “no one understood me, but now they respect me and want to be my friend.” And an 18-year-old from China says “We bring our own culture with us and share it on this bittersweet journey.”
“Immigration is just a word, and not always a positive one in these times,” Santa said. “But putting a human face on it brings that word to life. I can’t imagine what it would be like to leave a familiar land; they’ve done it. When you see pictures of them in a football uniform or gathered around their school lockers or even sitting on a sofa, dressed in their native garb, you realize they’re kids just like kids everywhere, and not so different from our ancestors who did the same thing years ago.”
Determined to preserve their unique personalities, Beirne encouraged the teens to write something about themselves, giving them a list of possible topics. She didn’t force them into writing something that was embarrassing or that would make their families uncomfortable.
Then she edited everything down to a few paragraphs, “though I would have loved to put in the whole thing,” she said. “It was all very interesting; I became very emotionally involved in who they were.”
They’re very optimistic, said Beirne, whose work capturing the faces of Belfast, Ireland, to India to Appalachia has been displayed around the world. Even those who went through troubled times in their homeland hope for the best in this country. Determined to succeed, they’re shocked at the opportunities here. And while she hasn’t been able to stay in contact with all of them, through family moves and going off to college, those she has reached are living up to their expectations.
“I try to call them on New Year’s Day, when I know they’re likely to come home and be with their families,” she said. “They’re really doing very, very well. I recently learned the girl from China graduated from medical school.
“Many have also maintained their culture, an important part of their identity, of who they are.”
Added Santa, “This is something that will appeal to everyone. It should be required viewing for our young people; we take a lot of things for granted.”
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