Milena Lowe’s ‘Local Immigrant Project’

Martin Boris from Cameroon, Africa

Milena (Mila) Lowe of Moldova, an international student of public relations and photography, came to the United States in 2011 for summer work. “I didn’t immediately fall in love with Martha’s Vineyard, and didn’t plan to stay,” she said. “But I met my husband, Julius Lowe, in 2013, and love changed our plans.” Milena stayed in the U.S. on a student visa, and the couple were married in May 2014. Her ongoing “Local Immigrants Photo Project” profiles the immigrants who have landed on the Island from all over the world, placing them in iconic Island locations with their traditional dress, and interviewing them about their experiences here.

This project is about community, culture exchange, storytelling, and the immigrants who are making lives on Martha’s Vineyard. I have always been passionate about international cultures and societies. I believe that living in different countries and exploring new traditions, languages, and mentalities gives us a chance to learn more about our own humanity. On Martha’s Vineyard, I have made friends with immigrants from all over. The surprising diversity of the Island motivated me to start this project.

I have photographed Pema Yangchen Greer from Bhutan, Jirawadde Hazleton from Thailand, Martin Boris from Cameroon, and Uma Datta from India. Others from Russia, Serbia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, the Philippines, Jamaica, Albania, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Japan have agreed to participate, and their photographs and stories will be coming soon.

I feel proud of my subjects. They all had enough courage to leave their motherland and start a new life from nothing. They have risen to the challenge to make a new home here on the Island.

It has been surprising that all of my participants have such a strong connection with their families and birth countries. Even though they all had to leave a life behind, my subjects have a connection with their past rather than rejecting it in favor of the new.

Our local immigrants want to share their culture with the community, to show Martha’s Vineyard has become a home for us all.

Each participant brought with him or her a different story. We have all learned so much while traversing the challenges of social adoption, language barriers, and the search for our own piece of this amazing place. I hope by sharing these photographs and stories, we will leave strong cultural prints on the fabric of the Island community.

For more information, and to read her blog, visit milalowe.com.