Angie Smith: Stronger Shines the Light Inside Artist Talk

Friday, April 21, 2017 at 4:00pm
Memorial Chapel

FREE

Join Wesleyan Refugee Project in welcoming Angie Smith, Maher Mahmood, and Mahmood Mahmood for a speaker panel about refugee resettlement.

Angie Smith is a photographer based in Los Angeles and the founder of Stronger Shines the Light Inside*—a photo series that has been featured in National Geographic, Refugees Deeply, The New York Times, and other publications.  Smith will speak at Wesleyan about the inception, development and execution of Stronger Shines the Light Inside, refugee resettlement in the US, using photography to tell impactful stories and incite political change, interviewing people about sensitive topics, and applying skills from a liberal arts college in the real world to create new initiatives promoting social justice and change.

Through her photographs, Smith has captured the important and oftentimes under-discussed subject of refugee resettlement in a contemporary context. Her work is particularly relevant to Wesleyan students who are interested in creative approaches to social change.

This panel will also feature Maher Mahmood, a Connecticut-based photographer, and his brother Mahmood Mahmood from Baghdad, who will speak about their experiences with resettlement in Connecticut.

The panel event will be one hour and will be followed by a reception in the Daniel Family Commons, Usdan University Center, where the audience will have an opportunity to chat with all three speakers and representatives from Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services in New Haven, Connecticut. Food from Typhoon restaurant will be served.

*For more information about SSTL, check out an overview of the project at www.strongershinesthelightinside.com. The exhibition will also be displayed in the Center for the Arts Courtyard until May 5th.

Many thanks to our co-sponsors for this event: Center for the Arts, Green Fund, American Studies Department, College of the Environment, Allbritton Center, and College of Social Studies.

Image above: Angie Smith, Paw Lah Tse and Paw Lah Htoo, archival print