主要研究 今天

As the time approached for final projects to be completed in the photography program 贝基领域 had enrolled in at the New Hampshire Institute of Art (now New England College), she knew many of her classmates were frantically scrambling to pull project ideas together.

然而，她并没有感受到这样的压力.

“Many students probably started their final projects two weeks before we ended the program, 但我提前两年就开始了我的工作,她笑着说.

She’d been struck by hateful graffiti scrawled on the sides of four refugee homes in Concord between 2011 and 2012. She’d just begun the photography program – a “retirement project” after more than two decades as a university professor and research ecologist for the federal government – when she decided to document the lives of new Americans in New Hampshire through her photography as a way to counter the hate.

“I got angry about that graffiti – it was written on the homes of people who had fled very dangerous and threatening situations to come here and find safety, 在这里，他们受到这些话的威胁,菲尔德说. “所以我决定用我的相机来表达, “你在这里是受欢迎的, I see the contributions you are making to our communities and you are an important part of our society.’”

That two-year head start on her final assignment has turned into a 12-year-long passion project. 菲尔德早就从摄影专业毕业了, 但是她的作品, “不同的根源, Common Dreams; New Hampshire’s Cultural Diversity” continues to grow, and she recently celebrated a key milestone when 主要研究’s Dimond Library established a publicly accessible archive of digital images from her project.

存档, 收藏在戴蒙德图书馆米尔恩特别收藏和档案馆, 是否可供市民透过 联合国大学澳门葡京网赌游戏资料库, a searchable online collection of scholarly and creative works collected by the library.

“Becky has done so much to bring awareness to the experience of immigrant communities in New Hampshire,Eleta Exline说, 学术交流馆员, 谁负责图书馆数字馆藏的发展. "Her work is beautiful, and we’re so excited to be able to include it in our digital collections."

考虑到她在其他领域工作了几十年之后才走到镜头后面, 对菲尔德来说，把她的照片存档在主要研究是件令人兴奋的事.

“如果15到20年前你会说，‘你猜怎么着? You’re going to be a fairly well-known photographer in New Hampshire photographing immigrants,’我会说‘你疯了,她承认道。.

Field made her first contacts with New Hampshire’s immigrant communities through the leadership of nonprofit groups that support new Americans. Those leaders introduced Field to English classes in the area and families willing to participate. 最初，她的工作主要在康科德, 纳舒厄和曼彻斯特, 该州大多数难民安置项目都在哪里开展.

随着时间的推移，该项目的影响范围不断扩大, 虽然, as word spread to others in refugee communities who were not only willing but excited to take part. 档案收藏现在包括来自该州许多地区的照片, 包括北部国家.

Field自成立以来一直在不断添加到集合中.

“A lot of the immigrant families got so excited, they loved having their pictures taken. 他们中的许多人向我表达了他们终于被看到的感觉, 被公认的, 作为社区的一部分被认可和接纳,菲尔德说.

存档 collection is not the only work Field has done to highlight immigrant communities in New Hampshire – in fact, 这甚至不是戴蒙德图书馆唯一一个这样的项目. Field also has an exhibit of large photographs depicting the story of one African man who was jailed for two years after legally seeking asylum in 2018. COVID爆发后, 他被搬到了新罕布什尔沿海地区的一所房子里, where he remained under house arrest and tracked with a GPS monitor for an additional three years.

2021年3月, Field wanted to continue her focus on the refugee population but was interested in doing an in-depth series of photographs around one person. 她花了一年半的时间每周看望这位寻求庇护者, documenting his daily life through portraits and growing to become good friends.

尽管新罕布什尔移民的主题是相似的, 由此产生的展览, 在荒野中哭泣:一个移民在拘留中的旅程, 是不是在很多方面背离了她的其他作品, 最明显的原因是缺乏鲜艳的色彩. 所有的照片都是黑白的, 印在4英尺乘5英尺的帆布上, 悬挂在更大的黑色金属框架内.

“这与我所做的其他工作完全不同,菲尔德谈到展览时说, 这幅画将一直挂在图书馆的米尔恩厅，直到明年1月10日. 27, 2024. “The display is unique – several people have told me they’ve never seen an exhibit quite like it before.”

The exhibit is supported by the 主要研究 Library and is funded by 主要研究's department of anthropology and the 主要研究 Center for Humanities, 以及新罕布什尔州艺术委员会.

Field was quick to praise the staff at Dimond Library for helping coordinate and install the current exhibit, 还有数字档案.

“图书馆工作人员的优点我说不完, 他们在这一切上都是很好的合作者,菲尔德说. “多年来在这个项目上的工作让我受益匪浅. I hope that my photography also leaves a lasting impression on viewers and provides a meaningful view of New Hampshire’s vibrant and valuable diverse communities.”