The latest exhibit from New Hampshire-based photographer Becky Field is full of vibrant colors from all over the world. But the photos don’t come from Field's foreign travels. Instead, they come from spending time with diverse communities right here in New Hampshire.
The photos are part of an ongoing project by Field, who uses photography to document the everyday experiences of immigrants and refugees in New Hampshire.
The exhibit, “Different Roots, Common Dreams: New Hampshire's Cultural Diversity,” is currently on display at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, after stops at Manchester City Hall and the campus of NHTI in Concord.
“The beauty of this project is that I get to go to events, I get to meet people from different cultures, hear different languages, eat different food — which might be a little on the spicy side — and I go home and I sleep in my own bed,” Field said at the a reception for the exhibit in Lebanon earlier this week.
Field was inspired to start the project in 2012 when racist graffiti was left on the homes of refugees in Concord. Over a decade later, New Hampshire’s immigrants and refugees still face significant challenges: a pause in federal funding for refugee resettlement, restrictions on immigration for people from over 20 countries, and a new bill in the State House this year aims to dismantle the resettlement program in New Hampshire altogether.
Despite the challenges, Field says it’s still important to highlight the diversity of the Granite State. She said she was proud to have her work archived at UNH.
“I realized over the years that this is an issue that needs to be brought to the public's attention,” she said. “We need to show the strength, the beauty, the humanity, and the contributions that people from all different countries have been able to bring to New Hampshire.”
