New Women New Yorkers

Tagged: women immigrants

Portraits & interviews / Real People. Real Lives.

Real People. Real Lives: Meet Ximena, from Colombia

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Real People. Real Lives, a NWNY photo exhibit on immigrant women, we are looking back to some of the participants’ stories. The exhibit featured photographs of 16 women in iconic NYC spots and neighborhoods by Dru Blumensheid. The portraits, along with audio recorded interviews, show a nuanced and multi-layered picture of the immigrant women who make NYC their home, the barriers and isolation they experience, as well the hopes, dreams and talents they bring with...

Portraits & interviews

Tianrui Ding’s journey from Asia to NYC – and within herself

How a young Chinese woman unleashed her inner potential and became more confident than ever living in New York City Written by Arzoo Bhattarai I got to meet Tianrui Ding on a cold, rainy evening in a coffee shop in Queens. Our busy schedules and the inclement winter weather made me wish to end the interview as soon as possible to head back home to relax. But the initial awkward silence and uncomfortable long pauses that are somewhat common in...

Ximena at the Queens Museum

Portraits & interviews / Real People. Real Lives.

When the words do not come out

Reflections on the one-year anniversary of Real People. Real Lives – a photo and storytelling exhibit on immigrant women In 2017, an unique collaboration of New Women New Yorkers with photographer and filmmaker Dru Blumensheid gave life to an exhibit featuring photographs of 16 immigrant women, an 18-feet-long mural, and a nearly 2-hour film with additional photographs and the audio interviews of the women. The show revealed a nuanced picture of the immigrant women who make NYC their home, the...

Gyuzel at Brighton Beach, where Central Asian food and old women gossiping in Russian makes her feel at home

Portraits & interviews / Volunteer profiles

NWNY’s program associate Gyuzel Zaripova’s winding road to NYC

How a young woman journeyed from Kazakhstan to Paris to New York City to start a new life. Written by Tatiana Spiegel On a cold winter day in December, I left my cozy apartment to get acquainted with an unfamiliar face,  Gyuzel Zaripova, the program associate for New Women New Yorkers. I approached the West Village restaurant where we’d planned to meet and was warmly greeted by her at the entrance. She was wrapped in a wool coat and scarf,...