Families create memories in Canada
Photographer teams with refugee agency and takes portraits
KITCHENER — There’s something about family photos that evokes a feeling of home and belonging.
That’s why local photographer Brian Limoyo teamed up with Reception House, a local refugee resettlement agency, to take free family portraits of newly arrived refugees.
“There is a reaffirming power of the image of the family,” he said.
“I wanted to put faces to this idea of what a refugee is. They are just everyday, ordinary families.”
Limoyo’s photos were recently published as a book called “The Great Canadian Family Portrait Project.”
In addition to a selection of family portraits, it includes brief descriptions of what the families left behind and their hopes for their new life in Canada.
All proceeds from book sales will go Reception House’s social integration programs.
Limoyo said he came up with the idea after learning about the local resettlement agency. He wanted to do something to show support for new refugees, a group of people he thinks are often demonized.
“I wanted to help represent them in a positive way,” he said.
He also wanted to raise awareness about the plight faced by many refugees. They flee countries riddled with war and conflict, and leave behind all of their belongings and sometimes even family members.
All of the families photographed by Limoyo were part of Reception House’s family partnership program, which matches volunteers with newly arrived government-assisted refuges to help them integrate into their new community.
“Photos and images are very powerful,” said Marika Galadza, manager of community engagement at Reception House.
“People bring so little when they come here, but they usually always have photos.”
That is why she thinks Limoyo’s offer to take free portraits was valuable to families just starting out in their new home. Galadza said the families were thrilled to have copies of new family photos.
She and Limoyo also hope the project will help raise awareness about newcomers and the hurdles they often have to face, including the struggle to reunite with family members who have been left behind.
“The Great Canadian Family Portrait Project” can be purchased from Reception House and Open Sesame in downtown Kitchener.
Copies of the book will also be available at the book launch on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at Kitchener Public Library’s central branch from 6:30 to 8 p.m.