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On Thursday, May 8, downtown West Chicago’s Gallery 200 served as the venue for “That’s Why I’m Here”, an exhibition of autobiographical photography presented by multilingual students from West Chicago Community High School.
The photography and written pieces were produced by ESL 2 students, and the showcase was designed to highlight the immigration journeys of these individuals. According to event coordinators, the collection involved personal narratives and visual media to explore the students’ lives in the United States.
“I hope people are able to understand and empathize with the students who have written these stories,” ESL teacher Mark Poulterer said.
In an introductory statement, the exhibit was designed by students to express their “personal experiences” as a way to counter stereotypes regarding immigrants. The text then stated that these students frequently face being “misrepresented, inaccurately depicted, and incorrectly labeled.”
“When I first arrived in the U.S., people at my school were often racist and unkind because I didn’t understand English,” student participant Adriana Espinosa said.
Poulterer stated that the assignment initially asked students to capture images representing the things they abandoned and the new things they received when arriving in the United States. As a result, many of the photographs centered on concepts like sacrifice, identity, belonging, and opportunity. Several photographs also featured symbolic imagery and downtown West Chicago landmarks to represent students’ experiences and emotions.
“I prefer to live in México, but I’m here. I am here for education. But not free,” Fidel (last name withheld) said.
