Seen and Unseen: Capturing the Lives of New York’s Asylum Seekers – Next100

Next100

The Next Generation of Policy Leaders

Event   Immigration

Seen and Unseen: Capturing the Lives of New York’s Asylum Seekers

Now on view is a new photography exhibition by Rudrani Ghosh, photographer and a policy entrepreneur at Next100.

Click here to register for the opening reception.

Please Note: the exhibition is only open to the public during the dates and times listed below. Registration is not required. For any questions please contact: [email protected] 

Seen and Unseen is a new photography exhibition that explores the question: Who in America has the privilege of being seen without fear? 

Rudrani Ghosh, photographer and a policy entrepreneur at Next100, began this project as an endeavor to capture the tender, everyday life of asylum seekers as they navigate shelters, look for jobs, care of their children, and rebuild their lives in a new city. However, with ICE raids and mass deportation on the rise in the United States, it is no longer safe to show the faces of the participants. As a physical embodiment of the forced censorship and erasure of the stories and experiences of these families, the faces in these images were obscured using a photo weaving technique.  

Viewing Dates and Hours:

  • Wednesday, 11/12: 11 AM – 2 PM 
  • Thursday, 11/13: 11 AM – 2 PM 
  • Friday, 11/14: 11 AM – 2 PM 
  • Monday, 11/17:  6 PM – 8 PM (Opening Reception)
  • Tuesday, 11/18: 11 AM – 2 PM 
  • Wednesday, 11/19: 11 AM – 2 PM 
  • Thursday, 11/20: 11 AM – 2 PM; 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM 
  • Friday, 11/21: 11 AM – 2 PM 
  • Tuesday, 11/25: 10 AM – 1 PM 
  • Wednesday, 11/26: 10 AM – 1 PM 
  • Sunday, 11/30: 12 PM – 3 PM 

All public areas of the venue are accessible.

Presented by Next100 and The Century Foundation.

Artist Bio

Rudrani Ghosh is a photojournalist and researcher, focusing on stories of immigration and forced displacement. Prior to Next100, Rudrani spent several years photographing the effects of the climate crisis and forced displacement on communities across Bangladesh and India. Her most recent body of work,“Seen and Unseen,” a longform photo project exploring who in America has the right to be seen without risk to their safety, is a culmination of her time at Next100. 

In addition to her photojournalism work, Rudrani has written extensively about the policy landscape and solutions to the housing crisis and the needs of asylum seekers in New York for Next100. Read more of her work here and find her photographs at www.rudranighosh.com.