Photography exhibit honours New Brunswick's immigration 'heroes' on pandemic front lines
Project highlights stories of immigrants working essential jobs during COVID-19
When the pandemic reached the Acadian Peninsula in northeastern New Brunswick, photographer David Champagne decided to capture portraits reflecting the new reality facing essential workers.
He took a photo of a cashier at his local grocery store in Maisonette, N.B., 23 kilometres north of Caraquet, and shared it on social media.
"It was behind the window to respect the restrictions at that time. And then I began to make more portraits of essential workers during the pandemic at this moment," he said.
Champagne's work caught the attention of the Réseau en immigration francophone du Nouveau-Brunswick, an organization that helps support French-speaking newcomers to the province. It sparked the idea of using photography as a way to recognize the contributions of immigrants as essential workers during the pandemic.
A new exhibit titled Héros de l'immigration shares the stories of "heroes" of immigration from all corners of the province. Champagne's portraits of essential workers, including personal support workers, health care employees and truck drivers.
WATCH / Photographer features immigrant workers on pandemic front lines
Each photo is accompanied by video testimonials, which offer a glimpse into the challenges faced and the personal motivations for each newcomer.
The photographs are on display at the Arts and Culture Centre in Dieppe, N.B., until Feb. 8. Then the show will come to the Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne in Fredericton before moving to the Acadian Peninsula in June.
Paying tribute
The 21 portraits show essential workers pictured at their workplace, at home and in their communities.
Champagne, who is originally from Montreal, said in an interview that he wanted to bring attention to many newcomers filling key roles. He tried to depict them on the job, but when that wasn't possible due to restrictions, he got creative.
"It was important for me and for the New Brunswick Francophone Immigration Network to pay tribute to these workers who often work in the shadows and do really important work in our society," he said.
"I want to show the new face, the future face of New Brunswick."
Cedric Mpawenimana is a community support worker in Fredericton. He is originally from Burundi.
"My biggest motivation is the need to help people," he said in French.
Aline Ntiringaniza is originally from Burundi and works as an administrative assistant at the hospital in Fredericton.
"To have to chance to give to others what the country [Canada] has given to me, is satisfying," she said.
Barbara Derosiers is originally from Haiti. She is an admissions clerk at the Edmundston Regional Hospital.
"I was motivated myself to give more to serve and help the community within my duties. With lots of empathy, patience and calmness. To say everything is going to be alright, just follow the essential health rules to limit the spread," she said.
Esma Moknache is originally from Algeria and works as a personal support worker in Shippagan, N.B.
"It was a very, very difficult job but we held on thanks to them, too [the residents]. They were a force for us. We become so accustomed to it, we forget the virus, we live with it. We work with the heart," she said.
'They kept fighting'
Sara Azhari, communications director for the immigration network, helped connect Champagne with newcomers to photograph and collect their stories.
"They kept fighting to provide us with all these services that allowed us to move forward even though the pandemic was very hard," she said. "And this project also points to the fact that a lot of essential workers are immigrants, and we wanted to highlight their contribution in managing the COVID-19 crisis."
The portraits in the exhibit are accompanied by QR codes which allow people to access video testimonials from each essential worker. Many describe how they overcame significant barriers to continue to keep working.
"It's incredible to see through these videos and their experiences how crazy it was for some of them," she said.
"For example the truck drivers, they kept driving alone on the roads even though they didn't have any place to rest or to have food. One care attendant told us she had to walk two hours per day to go to work."
Azhari said the stories show the contributions of immigrants to New Brunswick as more people from around the world continue to choose to settle in the province.
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