Photographer Tariq Tarey Brings Awareness of Refugees Through a New Portrait Exhibit

In a sunlight-filled studio in the Milo Arts building, photographer Tariq Tarey pages through a stack of photos as his friend and sometime curator, Bill Mahon, looks on. They are selecting pictures for the upcoming exhibition of Tarey’s work at the Decorative Arts Center in Lancaster, “From Struggle to Strength: Inspiring Journeys of Central Ohio’s Refugee Community” (Jan. 27 to April 28). “We don’t have many Afghans,” Tarey says, shaking his head. “They are a scared community.” 

Afghans are some of the most recent refugees to arrive in Central Ohio, but they are just one of the many groups represented in this show, which will include about 40 black-and-white studio portraits of people who fled Bhutan, Nepal, Somalia, Rwanda, the Congo, Burundi, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Each subject is posed before a plain backdrop and formally dressed—whether in contemporary American clothing or traditional attire of their native land. The overwhelming impression they give is one of dignity.  

His subjects, Tarey points out, fled a hellish array of experiences in their homeland. Violence. Rape. Hunger. Fear. Yet in spite of all that, most have an expression of directness, not supplication. They may appear weary, resigned or sad, but they look at the photographer—and therefore at the viewer—with trust. 

That’s because each has a personal connection to Tarey, a native of Somalia who was himself an asylum-seeker when he arrived in the U.S. in 1998 and who now serves as director for refugee services at Columbus’ Jewish Family Services. Each year, he welcomes (literally—he goes to the airport) and helps to resettle 175 individuals arriving in Central Ohio from war-torn and troubled countries. “In one word, my art and my job is ‘advocacy,’ ” Tarey says. “It is bringing awareness to a group of individuals that are unique in the immigration system.” 

He points to a photo of Byaene Mtange, a Congolese woman wearing a sparkly necklace and earrings, a sculpted mass of braids atop her head, and a slightly wary expression. “I picked her up at the airport earlier this year,” he says. “She spent 20 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania.” He turns to a picture of a woman whose matching printed dress and headscarf are almost dizzying. “When she came into my office, I saw her and said, ‘Will you come with me to the studio? Now?’ ” 

The portraits are both timeless and achingly specific. Tarey, who describes himself as a visual ethnographer, struggles against the urge to fix imperfections in the darkroom—a stray hair, an untucked collar, a piece of lint. “It’s what makes it real. But it’s painful!” 

Tarey wants viewers to see that each of his subjects represents not only a country and a situation but also a contribution to the Central Ohio community. “Refugees come with empty hands, but they don’t come with empty heads. 

 “Look at these people. They could be your neighbor. Say hello.” 

This story is from the February 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.