Julie Winokur
“Newest Americans” reaches across media formats: documentary film, photography, fiction and nonfiction essays, podcasting and interactive storytelling.
Presenters: Mohamed Alsiadi Ashley Gilbertson Sara Grossman Ed Kashi Tim Raphael Hamna Saleem Dina Sayedahmed Julie Winokur
Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza
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“Newest Americans” chronicles the immigrant experience from the vantage point of the most diverse campus in the United States, Rutgers University-Newark, according to U.S. News & World Report. Recognizing Newark as a bellwether for the demographic future of the entire country, this project generates fresh narratives about our emerging majority-minority population and the nation it is transforming.
“Newest Americans” reaches across media formats: documentary film, photography, fiction and nonfiction essays, podcasting and interactive storytelling. Since 2014, we have produced a digital magazine, mounted gallery and museum exhibits, and hosted numerous public humanities events that engage audiences in in-depth conversations about the challenges and opportunities presented by immigration. We generate both hyper-local stories and documentaries on the wider impact of people connected to the city—making this a project with both Jersey roots and a global reach.
“Newest Americans” is a collaboration between Talking Eyes Media, an award-winning social documentary production company; VII Photo, an internationally renowned collective of photojournalists; and Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N). Professional journalists, media-makers and artists work alongside RU-N faculty and students to create stories that reframe the immigration experience in America.
Ashley Gilbertson (b. 1978) is an Australian photographer and writer living in New York City recognized for his critical eye and unique approach to social issues. He is a frequent contributor to major media outlets and a collaborator with the United Nations. For over twenty years, Gilbertson’s work focused on refugees and conflict, an interest that in 2002, led him to Iraq. His work from that country was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, and in 2007, Gilbertson’s first book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, was released. Post Iraq, Gilbertson shifted his focus to the home front, drawing public attention to post traumatic stress disorder and suicide. Gilbertson’s second book, Bedrooms Of The Fallen, a collection of photographs depicting the intact bedrooms of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, was released in 2014. That work received a prestigious Ellie award.
Today, Gilbertson documents social issues facing The United States. In 2021, his January 6 work from the Capitol insurrection, specifically an image of Officer Eugene Goodman, was part of a NY Times group entry that was a finalist for The Pulitzer Prize.
Ed Kashi is a critically acclaimed photojournalist who uses photography, filmmaking, and social media to explore geopolitical and social issues. A dedicated educator and mentor to photographers around the world, Kashi lectures frequently on visual storytelling, human rights, and the world of media.
A Contributing Photographer to the VII Foundation since 2010, Kashi has been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition. His early adoption of hybrid visual storytelling has produced a number of influential short films and in 2015 he was named Multimedia Photographer of the Year by Pictures of the Year International.
His work has appeared in National Geographic, Open Society Foundations, The New Yorker, MSNBC, GEO, Human Rights Watch, MediaStorm, NBC.com, The New York Times Magazine, Oxfam, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and TIME. His work has been published and exhibited worldwide, receiving numerous awards and honors, and he has published nine books of his photography.
Talking Eyes Media is a nonprofit production company whose work stimulates public dialogue and advocates for positive social change. Based in New Jersey, Talking Eyes Media has produced films, books and essays that have appeared on MSNBC, PBS, National Geographic, Discovery, The New York Times, The Washington Post and many other major media outlets.
The VII Foundation is committed to in-depth journalism covering the crucial issues of our time. In a world where beliefs and actions are increasingly out of sync with facts and realities, our response is to document the truth to enable communities worldwide to make evidence-based choices about the challenges impacting their lives.
The foundation does this by empowering new voices through education, especially from under-resourced regions where press freedom is limited and journalists are vulnerable. It trains practitioners to cover their local communities and global problems and produces large-scale and long-term documentary projects that advocate change and detail solutions. It brings new and neglected perspectives to the public agenda and hosts conversations campaigning for a diverse, safe, and viable profession, especially for freelancers worldwide.
The Center for Migration and the Global City (CMGC) is an incubator for multidisciplinary scholarship, public humanities and civic engagement that addresses the local and global effects of migration. CMGC is based on the campus of Rutgers University-Newark.
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