Ali Lapetina A HOME ABROAD

In “A Home Abroad,” Ali Lapetina captures a family’s experience living in the postindustrial city of Detroit after immigrating from the rural setting of Sylhet, Bangladesh. The family moved to the city’s community of resettled Bangladeshi immigrants—called Banglatown—with little money, in hopes of finding employment, healthcare and education.

As is the case with many powerful bodies of work, the series developed organically. “I noticed two woman planting a garden at a vacant lot across the alleyway of a community farm I was volunteering on in Detroit,” says Lapetina. “I approached them and we instantly connected, even though we could barely communicate with one another.” One of the women, Rajna, Lapetina explains, insisted that she take one of her bracelets as a gift. “For the rest of the summer I found myself spending a day each week with them learning about their way of life and photographing what I saw.” But that’s not where Lapetina’s involvement in the community ended: a year later, she founded an all-women’s community space, Women of Banglatown, for local women and children. She says: “The space allowed me to immerse myself more into the neighborhood's culture and it inspired me to share the story of a recent immigrant family’s life here in America.”

Lapetina, who studied photography at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, became interested in the medium because it allowed her to “connect with different cultures and share universal stories of the human experience,” she says.

Although “A Home Abroad” is a completed body of work, she is continuing to create work that explores themes of cultural identity. Currently, she’s photographing the gender role expectations of young women in Detroit's Bangladeshi community. —Amy Touchette

Photos © Ali Lapetina alielisabeth.com