Photo by Asher Imtiaz via Museum of Wisconsin Art
Esmaael and His Son’ by Asher Imtiaz
‘Esmaael and His Son’ by Asher Imtiaz
The photo is one of a father clutching his son close to him, his head pressed against the child and mouth slightly open as if to nibble on the boy’s chin. The boy, who may be seven or eight years old, has a wide-eyed look on his face that communicates both shock at unfamiliar surroundings coupled with a weariness not typical to someone his age. The image, named Esmaeel and his Son, is one of human warmth clouded with an emotional shadow of change, and perhaps not always a pleasant one.
It's also one of 30 images that comprise “Mirrors, Not Windows: Photography of Asher Imtiaz,” a new exhibit that opened August 3 and is on display at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. The black-and-white photos chronicle the struggles and strength of immigrants, asylum seekers and other refugees seeking a new life in the United States. It’s an exhibit current to our time with an importance that is as social as it is artistic, according to Anwar Floyd-Pruitt, who curated the exhibit for the West Bend museum.
“Asher’s photos go a long way in humanizing what has become a divisive social issue,” Floyd-Pruitt says. “He tackles the images head-on in a way that seeks to draw a commonality between the subjects and viewers visiting the exhibit. Asher says he hopes that his work serves as a reminder that behind every image is a person we can know, honor, respect, and love.”
Family Themes
The photos on display, many taken of Milwaukee subjects as well as those from 12 states across the U.S., tend to run long on family themes, particularly those involving children. Imtiaz, himself a refugee from Pakistan who suffered his own degree of estrangement and xenophobia when coming to the U.S., always shows his subjects within the context of their living situations. Many look directly at the viewers or just beyond the frame of the photos, both of which help draw those viewers into the image objectively and, in the best cases, emotionally as well.
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Photo by Asher Imtiaz via Museum of Wisconsin Art
‘Aline and Her Son Alex, Tucson AZ 2022’ by Asher Imtiaz
‘Aline and Her Son Alex, Tucson AZ 2022’ by Asher Imtiaz
“Children play a prominent role in Asher’s images,” Floyd-Pruitt explains. “There is a sense of seriousness and maybe stoicism on their faces that lead to us wonder what the young person’s experience has been. But there is never sadness.”
Imtiaz’s images also include a considerable amount of what Floyd-Pruett calls “beautiful shadows,” an esthetic framing device some of which suggest Christian imagery, an important component for the photographer, who grew up Christian in largely Muslim Pakistan. In fact, some of the photographer’s early work was done in his home country chronicling religious minorities who out of necessity formed their own communities and may have felt like refugees in their own land, the curator says.
That thinking helps explains the exhibit’s title, “Mirrors, Not Windows,” drawn from a work by Nigerian-American writer and photographer Teju Cole. Imtiaz further uses a quote from poet Mary Oliver – “Attention without feeling is only a report” – to embrace the beautiful shadows emotionally and artistically evident in the photographs.
“Asher believes in the power of art to affect social change,” Floyd-Pruitt explains. “It’s about finding common ground and a sense of humanity both for the subjects and in ourselves. It involves seeing beyond the news cycle to embrace the ‘new Americans’.”
Mirrors, Not Windows: Photography of Asher Imtiaz is on display through November 24 at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, 205 Veterans Ave., West Bend. For more information visit wisconsinart.org.
