From Brummana to Birmingham: A Lebanese American Family

This is a documentary photography project about Lebanese−Americans about my family. My dad's parents emigrated from Lebanon in the  1920s. My Sitto − my grandmother − immigrated in 1928, when she was 19; and my Giddo − my grandfather − immigrated in 1920, when he was 21. They had known each other in Lebanon and, when my Sitto arrived in Niagara Falls, my Giddo was already there. They were married and had four sons: Joe, Eli, Rich and Bobby.  

Rich is my dad and he has raised me with pride and awareness about being Lebanese. He has also always reached out to people of other cultures, especially when he married my mom who is Italian American. My parents have shown me how similar two different cultures are.

I believe that through documentary work we can learn each other's stories and work towards understanding. Through documentary photography, we have a chance to see into people's lives and see people as who they are and not who the stereotypes decide they are.

I began photographing in March of 2005. There are some older photographs but the majority are from 2005. During that time, I made several trips to visit my family in Northern Virginia, Norcross, Georgia, which is right outside of Atlanta, and Birmingham, Alabama.

This first set of photographs are of my cousin Paul and his wife Elizabeth and their two kids, Catherine and Christopher, in Norcross, Georgia.