Different Roots, Common Dreams: New Hampshire's Cultural Diversity

by Becky Field, Photographer

For the past three years, photographer Becky Field has been welcomed into the lives of New Hampshire’s immigrants and refugees. Her photographs, along with essays written by New Hampshire’s immigrants, show that while we are different in many ways, we all have the same dreams to have safe homes, jobs to support our families, strong futures for our children, and freedom to practice our cultural and religious traditions.

New Hampshire is known for low ethnic diversity, yet over its history, immigrants have contributed to the state’s economic growth and multicultural character.

In 2012, after hateful graffiti was scrawled on the sides of four refugee homes, New Hampshire photographer Becky Field decided to use her camera to show the vitality and diversity of the state’s new Americans, to honor their determination and expertise, to raise awareness about the paths to resettlement, and to stimulate public dialog about immigration and inclusion. Her photographs show families at home, children at play, workplaces, weddings, funerals, sacred ceremonies, and traditional celebrations.

In addition to Becky’s photographs, this book includes the words of others involved with immigration. In the introduction, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan speaks to the added strength in our communities from people of different cultures. The foreword by world-renowned photographer John Isaac, himself an immigrant, tells of the power of photography to influence our acceptance of others. Stories by New Hampshire refugees from six countries describe the journeys to find a home in a new land.

About the Author

Photographer Becky Field documents cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity in New Hampshire. Her photographs of immigrants and refugees have been displayed at conferences and exhibits. In 2013, her portrait of a New Hampshire girl from Somalia won a contest in a professional photography magazine.

Becky holds a Certificate in Photography from the New Hampshire Institute of Art. She has also studied at Maine Media Workshops, Center for Photography at Woodstock, and the Photographic Resource Center. In 2013 she attended a workshop in India with a small group of international photographers, led by John Isaac, former Chief of the Photo Unit at the United Nations. She is a member of the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists and Professional Photographers of America.

In past work, Becky was communications director with the American Red Cross in New Hampshire. Before that, she was a wildlife research ecologist with the U.S. Department of the Interior and a university faculty member. Becky has a doctoral degree in wildlife ecology. For more information, visit www.DifferentRootsNH.com

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