Human Mosaic

Human Mosaic

N e w I m m i g r a n t s in A m e r i c a Ph otograph y by Harve y Finkle

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Like most major cities in the United States, as well as a growing number of smaller cities, Philadelphia has become home in recent decades to immigrants hailing from every corner of the world.

Part of a collection of pictures of 10 immigrant families settled in the “City of Brotherly Love,” these photographs depict how the families have acclimated to US life through work and education, through worship and community. They come from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Jamaica; from India, Indonesia, and Lebanon; from Peru, Russia, and Sierra Leone. They are Christian — Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist; they are Muslim, Buddhist, and Sikh. These new arrivals carry with them the same values as those immigrants who preceded them over a century ago: They work hard, are achievement-oriented, value family life, and push their children to succeed through education.

The only difference from the Ellis Island migration is that this current migration is global rather than Eurocentric.

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Harvey Finkle is a Philadelphia-based still photographer who has produced a substantial body of work concerned with social, political, and cultural issues. His recent work includes a documentation of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a poor people’s movement emanating from the poorest neighborhood in Pennsylvania, and “The Jews of South Philadelphia,” interviews and photographs of the remnants of what once was one of the largest Jewish communities in the nation. His ongoing work includes documenting the activities of organizations that oppose the death penalty, advocate for workers’ rights, and fight against AIDS and homelessness.

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