De Las Sombras / Out of the Shadows provides a probing portrait from within the world of undocumented immigrants, a bilingual exhibition of photography and commentary that tells one family’s story in their own words and puts a compelling face on the struggle of millions.
Award winning artists T.J Dixon & James Nelson spent four years documenting the story of one Southern California immigrant family. The result is an insightful photographic essay with 47 framed photographs accompanied by captivating quotes (in English and Spanish), and video components adding insight and dimension into the project.
A majority of Americans support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but the collective will for successful congressional action/resolution and long-awaited new legal recourse, remains frustratingly remote. De Las Sombras: Out of the Shadows provides a moving focal point for consideration and conversation about the real human costs, and impacts of this stalemate, as played out in the lives of one family, their struggles echo the lives of countless others, still fearful and avoiding the limelight.
T.J. Dixon writes: “We can never look away again. I often think: what if we lived in a tin hut that flooded with every rain? What if a full belly was something we could only dream of? What if we knew we were good, hardworking, responsible people, with the desperate desire for a better life and we knew we could break out of this cycle of generational poverty simply by leaving home and going north? What if we could guarantee that our children could reach beyond this despair and disillusion?
But what if leaving meant we went alone as a child to a strange, unwelcoming country without family, money, or civil rights? . . . would we make the same choices?”