Today, Maria and I are going to Albany to meet and hopefully photograph several refugees who are helping to put on an art show on March 30 in the lobby of  the Capital Repertory Theater In Albany. The company will be performing the “Iliad” that night, it will offer the refugees an opportunity to explore notions of home, and the show is titled “New Beginnings.”

This afternoon, Maria and I are going to Albany to offer any assistance we can to the artists and the show, and hopefully, to take a portrait photograph or two.

The refugee story is complex, powerful and painful. America has always been known as a beacon for refugees struggling to be safe and free, now it is becoming a place known for keeping refugees out and fearing them. It’s a difficult time to be a refugee in the land of refugees, a great and wrenching irony.

The artists come from many different countries and are of different ages. The Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of the Methodist Emmaus Church in Albany are assisting them in the production of the show. This image is one of the paintings in the show.