Disturbed by the increasingly hostile views of immigrants that arose in the United States during the 2016 presidential election, photographer Colin Boyd Shafer set out on a road trip to meet hundreds of families and individuals with roots abroad who now live in America. The result, after a year of travel covering fifty thousand miles, is this collection of striking photos and moving stories that form a portrait of the nation’s complex and shifting relationship to immigration. Some of the participants chose to make America home; others were displaced by crises. Some were warmly welcomed and granted citizenship; others battled the immigration system for years and still live with fear and uncertainty. Their circumstances and origins vary, but all are united by a willingness to share their stories—of harrowing journeys, intense love, separated families, passionate activism—in hopes of adding nuance and depth to a vital issue that continues to polarize Americans.
Colin Boyd Shafer is an award-winning Canadian documentary photographer, social sciences educator, and the son of immigrants, with family roots in the United States. His recent photography projects include INTERLOVE, which tells interfaith love stories in Ontario; Cosmopolis Toronto, featuring someone from every country of the world who now calls Toronto home, which he presented at TEDxToronto and at the United Nations Alliance of Civilization’s Global Forum; and They Desire A Better Country, a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Order of Canada, for which he was chosen by the Governor General of Canada to make portraits of the featured recipients. His work has also featured in numerous print and TV outlets, including National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, CNN, BBC News, and CBC’s The National. He holds two bachelor degrees as well as an MSc in Political Economy of Violence Conflict and Development from SOAS, University of London. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario.
Colin Boyd Shafer : Finding American : Stories of Immigration from All 50 States
Figure.1
Hardcover
11 × 9.5 inches
304 pages
978-1-77327-221-4
$55 CDN / $45 USD
October 2023
Pre-order link: https://www.figure1publishing.com/book/finding-american/
