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Not From These Parts
Maine's Newest Immigrants View Their World
Equipped with smartphones and a proven artistic technique for changing the way they are seen,
ten young members of Maine's immigrant communities recently set out to document their lives photographically.
Thanks to a grant from Maine's Permanent Commission on the Status
of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations,
Seeing for Ourselves partnered with the state's immigrant support nonprofit Generational Noor to help promote
this new visual narrative about the state's latest arrivals from other parts.
Panel Discussion Among Leaders of the Local Immigrant Community
Following Screening of "Not From These Parts"
LA/Arts Gallery in Lewiston, Maine
August 15, 2025
Seeing for Ourselves
equips and trains marginalized individuals
to take control
of their own public narrative
by documenting their lives or concerns photographically.
​
The practice is known as
"participatory photography."
People not from these parts have been part of Maine
since before
it gained statehood.
​
Today's immigrants
often come
from much farther away
and face
extraordinary challenges.
Seeing for Ourselves first
served New York City
housing project residents,
then brought its programming
to New Yorkers on probation.
​
We're currently
asking high school students
to picture their climate future.
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