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04/05/2017 08:30 AMWith a patchwork of portraits topping short personal stories—including many told by the shoreline’s English as a second language (ESL) adult learners—Cathy Wilson Ramin has helped the local adult education program and the Blackstone Library develop Welcoming Branford, an exhibit that reminds us the fabric of a community is made up of many different people.
The community-wide photo essay exhibit, on display in the Blackstone rotunda for the month of April, will be celebrated with a public reception set for Wednesday, April 19 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Blackstone, 785 Main Street, Branford.
The exhibit is modeled after “Welcoming America,” a nationwide non-profit program promoting community diversity and acceptance. Cathy volunteered as project photographer by answering a call sent out from East Shore Region Adult & Continuing Education (ERACE) ESL instructor Susan Kocaba, ERACE director Paul Dzalio and Blackstone Director Karen Jensen. ERACE and the Blackstone also invited all community members to share their stories, says Jensen.
“The idea was to create an opportunity for Branford community members to share a little about themselves and learn about the many different people that make up their community,” says Jensen.
As a professional photographer who recently moved to Branford, the idea of loaning her talent to help to create this community exhibit immediately clicked with Cathy.
She and her husband, John-Paul, and their two children moved to Branford almost three years ago “from California by way of Greenwich,” Cathy says.
Getting involved in Welcoming Branford was “very synchronistic” moment,” she adds.
“I had been thinking about just this type of thing—the need to bring people together,” says Cathy. “I read a book last year called The Vanishing Neighbor, and I don’t know if it’s just from moving around so much, but it feels harder to connect with people these days. So I was kind of formulating a project on how to introduce people to each other and get people talking more.”
Cathy displays some of her “day in the life” portraiture at Branford Art Center (BAC) and learned about the Welcoming Branford project from BAC founder Yvonne Gordon.
“When Yvonne told me there was a meeting happening at the library for this program, and they were looking for a photographer to take some portraits, I said, ‘Hallelujah! This is exactly what I was hoping to do,’” says Cathy. “So we met, and it was great to hear the passion Karen and Susan had for this project. Everyone had ideas firing, and we just kept going from there.”
ERACE’s Kocaba and Dzalio both describe the significance of Welcoming Branford as vehicle to not only further diversity and acceptance, but as a way to help showcase ERACE’s incredibly motivated adults. ERACE serves ESL adult students from Branford, Clinton, Guilford, Madison, and North Branford who represent a demographic shift that’s happening across the shoreline, said Dzalio.
“It’s great message, because the whole shoreline, from East Haven down to Old Saybrook, they’re seeing a change in demographics, and if someone is well-educated and can speak well to you, there’s a connection right there,” says Dzalio. “It lets the community know that you have people coming into the community, and you can rely on these people. They’re all so energetic to learn, because they see opportunities.”
Cathy found many of the ERACE student essays and portraits reflect that optimism and confidence.
“If they didn’t want their picture in the photo, people could bring in an object, and one man brought a computer chip,” says Cathy. “He told me his dream is to work with computers.”
“If you’re 30 years old, you don’t want to be making $10 an hour. We want high-level jobs,” says Dzalio. “We’re not talking about low-wage jobs, we’re talking about higher-paying jobs, which means more education. And when you have people that want that, the energy is there.”
In addition to including ERACE ESL students, Jensen did put out a call to all community members who might be interested in participating. Of the exhibit’s 80 portraits and essays, there are 11 by community members outside of ERACE who signed on to be a part of Welcoming Branford.
For her part, Cathy completed all 80 portraits in about a month’s time, culling the final photos down from about 800 total photos. She also professionally matted each portrait above the subject’s short essay.
“While I was matting them, I read some of the essays, but I was kind of holding back because I want to see them all together as the exhibit intends,” say Cathy. “But I also heard a lot of their stories while I was taking their portraits, and they’re all beautiful.”
One story a contributor shared with her was particularly compelling, Cathy adds.
“There was a gentleman who was working at a gas station, and a customer came in and was talking to him about how he gets to work, and he said he walked to work. And she thought it was not safe for him to be walking at night,” Cathy recounts. “So she came—a stranger—and picked him up and got him to work every day, and made sure he got there safely, until he was able to afford his own car. And she told him if you always be kind to people, then it will go on.”
Cathy says other stories and portraits generated by Welcoming Branford will simply remind viewers that we all share many things in common.
“One of my favorite portraits was of a woman who brought in a stress ball shaped like a pig. That was hilarious,” says Cathy, who captured the pink pig cradled in the woman’s hands. “I tried to get their hands in the picture because I think hands tell you so much about a person. She was telling me this was a way to stay calm and get through a day, and don’t let things bother you too much.”
Looking back on the body of work crafted for Welcoming Branford, Cathy says she’s delighted to have contributed to a project in her new hometown.
“I was just thrilled to add my part with the photography and the display to bring these stories to life,” says Cathy. “I sincerely hope the residents of Branford will come to the opening reception on April 19 and take advantage of the opportunity to engage in conversation and meet new people. I hope the spirit of the project inspires people to take the time to share their stories as well—I think this could be just the beginning of something wonderful for our town!”