Emory Report homepage  

April 9, 2007
Resilient spirit reigns in portraits by University photographer Meltz

tUniversity photographer Bryan Meltz’s exhibit “Continuum: Portraits of East African Refugees in Clarkston, Georgia” is now on view through summer 2007, at the Emory School of Law, on the fifth floor of Gambrell Hall. Fourteen black-and-white portraits feature Somali Bantu and Sudanese families living in Clarkston’s Willow Branch Apartments.

Meltz met Arbai Barre Abdi in 2003 while working on a PBS documentary about two extended Somali Bantu refugee families and their journey to America.

“Through that friendship I have met an entire community of men, women and children from Somalia and Sudan who have fled war, famine and other horrors to come to the U.S., filled with the promise of a new start,” Meltz said. “My hope is that the portraits reflect the overwhelming spirit and resilience of the residents of Willow Branch.”

The documentary, “Rain in a Dry Land,” will premiere on PBS in June. For more information, visit www.bryanmeltz.com.

TOP