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Nargis Juhaman, a licensed vocational nurse from Afghanistan, is shown at work in a portrait from Mark Tuschman’s book, “Together We Rise: Immigrants in America.” Courtesy Mark Tuschman.
Immigration is a hot-button issue this election year, but for Menlo Park photographer Mark Tuschman, it is a personal subject. His grandparents came to the United States from Ukraine, and he has vivid childhood memories of living with them in their apartment in the lower East Side of New York City. Tuschman will speak about his personal history and his latest book, “Together We Rise: Immigrants in America,” at Kepler’s Books on Aug. 22.
The book is a photo-documentary that includes portraits of people from various occupations who have come to the United States in search of a better life. Accompanying the pictures are first-person narratives that give the background story about how and why they found their way here and what living and working in the U.S. means to them.
Tuschman explained that besides being inspired by his grandparents, he was greatly affected by current events that seemed to vilify immigrants. “In my experience, immigrants work hard to improve their lives and their families’ lives. I felt it was all very distorted.”
Mark Tuschman’s book “Together We Rise: Immigrants in America” features portraits of subjects accompanied by text that tells their stories. Shown in this spread is Rawha Sebhatu, a physician assistan graduate student from Eritrea. Courtesy Mark Tuschman.
Tuschman is not new to the medium of documentary photography, having published “Faces of Courage: Intimate Portraits of Women on the Edge” a decade ago. But his path to becoming a photographer was quirky and unusual.
After attending Cornell University as an undergraduate, Tuschman came west to study computer science at University of California, Berkeley. He embarked upon obtaining his Ph.D., preparing for a career in the neurophysiology of vision but decided to make a change. “I realized I did not have the temperament for it,” he explained. At about the same time, he obtained his first camera and, thanks to a friend with a darkroom, began printing his pictures. “I got an instant result,” he laughed, “unlike in the lab.”
He began reading all of the Ansel Adams books and, essentially, taught himself how to be a photographer. He was inspired by the work of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine (both of whom had captured the plight of immigrants in New York City) and decided he would focus on being a fine-art social documentary photographer. He hoped his work would take the form of books and gallery exhibitions, but it soon became apparent that being a photographer was a difficult way to make a living and support a family.
Tuschman photographed many subjects in their workplaces, such as Doroteo Garcia, from Mexico, who works as a janitor at Stanford University. Courtesy Mark Tuschman.
Over the years, he has relied upon his knowledge of computer science to pay the bills, taking a position at Stanford University where he created a program to assess radiation therapy. He eventually became a commercial photographer, working for health-related industries and NGOs like the Global Fund for Women. “I had a natural talent for the work,” he explained. On the side, he continued to do his own photography, because “the desire to do the work never left me.”
The photography for “Together We Rise” began back in 2018, with the thought that the prints would be displayed in exhibitions around the time of the 2020 election. The spread of COVID soon altered those plans. Some of the photographs were actually on view in various exhibitions in other states but then the shut-down was announced. “When COVID hit they were orphaned,” said Tuschman, “and the project was put on hold for 18 months.”
As soon as he was able, Tuschman began taking more photographs and collecting stories, this time with the intention of creating a book. “Even though the book has been delayed, the topic is still as relevant as ever,” he said.
His commercial work over the years in the health and social justice fields, as well as contacts at Stanford — and even local farmers markets — provided a means to meet his subjects. He shared that he had several criteria for the project: to include people from as many countries as possible and to have a diversity in citizenship status. Due to financial constraints, he had to limit his search to people in California.
Taking his Sony A7 camera into fields, offices and kitchens, Tuschman was able to capture a variety of immigration stories. “I wanted to place the person in an environment that tells a story about them.”
SLIDESHOW: Farmworker Jose Luis Angulo Velasquez, who is from Mexico, is shown picking apples. Courtesy Mark Tuschman. 
SLIDESHOW: Mohammad Ibrahim, from Bangladesh, is a high-tech executive and innovator. Courtesy Mark Tuschman. 
SLIDESHOW: Maria Maldonado is shown with her daughters. She is an asylum recipient, who left Mexico due to cartels that were targeting her family. Courtesy Mark Tuschman. 
SLIDESHOW: Jesus Pineda Ramirez is an immigrant rights and health activist and researcher from Mexico. Courtesy Mark Tuschman.
He explained that he first met with the individual and recorded their story using his cell phone. Although he speaks some Spanish, he was usually accompanied by an interpreter to fully explain the purpose of the interview. Later, the interview was transcribed by another interpreter.
He returned to take the portrait later, usually spending about 30 minutes in the subject’s workplace. When asked why he decided to use black-and-white film, Tuschman said, “It has more gravitas; I didn’t want color to get in the way.”
The prints in the book are divided by occupational categories such as Food, Health and Educators. The subjects look directly at the lens, for the most part, and follow Tuschman’s urging to “look proud of who you are.” He aimed to find people with different careers and jobs with farmworkers like Javier, Theresa and Roberto, who are captured in the fields where they work, and Maria Sanchez, who is an oncology nurse and Prerna Lal, an attorney. All of their stories reinforce the idea that they came to this country to work and to contribute. Many mention their gratitude for the opportunities they found here but also the discrimination they have faced. As Juliana, a Ph.D. student from Brazil shared, “My hope is that more compassionate immigration policies can be made. No child should have to face all the fears that I faced when I was younger and still face now.”
Tuschman said that combining the narrative accounts with the portraits is an integral part of his message, even in the face of dissenting opinions about the value of immigrants to this country. “You can’t argue about a person’s story — it’s their story.”
Tuschman felt so passionately about the value of the project that, when his publisher backed out at the last minute, he decided to cover the cost himself. He ordered 450 books, about 100 of which have been distributed. He would like to find someone else to get the remaining books out to schools and libraries across the country.
In the meantime, he continues to photograph farm workers and to do volunteer photography for Upward Scholars, a program that helps new immigrants in their educational pursuits.
Tuschman said that the people featured in his book “all came for the same reason my grandparents came,” adding, “They contribute, in one way or another, to improving our lives.”
Mark Tuschman will speak at Kepler’s Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park on Aug. 22 with a reception at 4:30 p.m. and lecture at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit keplers.com.
