Asher Imtiaz: Thank God for Immigrants

Brooklyn, New York, 2024
Opening reception: Saturday, June 28, 2025 – 2-5 pm (panel discussion at 3 pm)

We celebrate Asher Imtiaz’s exhibition, Thank God for Immigrants, with a reception and panel discussion. The artist will be joined at 3 pm by Aisha Sarwari and Malaika Franks for a conversation on The Love Ethics of Seeing. Invoking bell hooks, Imtiaz, Sarwari, and Franks will discuss the rewards, pitfalls, and ethical responsibilities of working with marginalized subjects. Sarwari is an author, a public speaker, and the co-founder of the NGO Women’s Advancement Hub. She focuses on the gendered aspects of migration, belonging, and caregiving. Her third book, Heart Tantrums and Brain Tumors was published in 2023. Franks is a systems designer and researcher whose work blends design and anthropology, drawing on methods such as participatory action research, ethnography, and active listening to support co-creation, systems change, and design thinking.

Thank God for Immigrants is a photographic meditation on presence, proximity, and dignity. In contrast to fear-driven narratives, these images invite viewers to see immigrants not as strangers, but as neighbors—rooted, resilient, and fully human. The exhibition challenges us to confront how we see and what we choose to ignore. It is a declaration of gratitude, a quiet resistance to dehumanization, and an invitation to stand closer.

Of the fifteen portraits in the exhibition, more than half represent refugees resettled to the Milwaukee area—people we may encounter in our daily lives. The rest were taken during Imtiaz’s many forays around the United States to seek out immigrants, learn their stories, and collaborate with them to create these images. Imtiaz includes a recent, untitled experiment: photographing on Ash Wednesday, he has created a series of immigrants’ eyes printed on wood.

Through his work, Imtiaz reflects on the role of contemporary photography and art within the sphere of justice and peace and considers how his artwork may effect change. The themes he explores include nationalism, home, identity, and uncertainty. He is interested in engaging others in the community by demonstrating that living a life of sustained attention is a start; it leads to becoming aware and then moving to responsibility and finally action.

Ansel Adams once said that a good photograph is “knowing where to stand.” While this is often interpreted as finding the perfect geographic location to capture light, Imtiaz chooses to make it political. Fitting his contemporary work in the history of photography, “knowing where to stand” becomes a statement of conviction in our contemporary society. Immigration has been a major divisive issue for Americans creating fear among many. Asher Imtiaz’s work serves as a reminder that we sometimes forget that behind every issue is a person we can know, honor, respect and love.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in Pakistan to a family belonging to a small religious minority, Asher Imtiaz moved to the American Midwest in 2012. His photography-based work, informed by this past,

This is a HOME exhibition.