Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

17th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest The American Experience
Uyghur American

America accepted Sofia and her sister Nafise as refugees when they were just 10 and 8. Now their childhood home in Urumqi (a city in the country formerly known as Eastern Turkestan) is under China's extreme surveillance and lock down of the Uyghur Minority where over 2 million of her friends, neighbors, and relatives are imprisoned. Unable to return home, many Uyghurs have adopted a dual pride of America and Eastern Turkestan and wonder what life would have been like under different circumstances.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2019
Date Uploaded: 11.2019
Photo Location: Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Copyright: © Steven Bates