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Exhibition Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress

Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress

Migrations of Memory

Granddaughter and grandmother sit near a stepped grey altar covered with black and white framed photos, flowers, and statues.
Pete Pin, photographer. Lanica Angpak and her Grandmother, Ny Long, in Front of Their Bedroom Altar for Deceased Ancestors, Philadelphia, PA, June 2013. photographed 2013, printed 2020. Inkjet print. Prints & Photographs Division (027.04.00)
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Color photograph taken at a festival with many people in the photo. At the forefront, two Cambodian boys wearing gray tee shirts and khaki shorts sit on a bench and talk. A woman is also on the bench, turned away from them.
Pete Pin, photographer. Southeast Asian Water Festival in Lowell, Mass., Aug. 17, 2013. photographed 2013, printed 2020. Inkjet print. Prints & Photographs Division (027.03.00)
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Head and shoulders photograph of John Tha Pin on left. Photograph of the artist’s father on right with arms draped around English teacher in front of small garden. Both men wear jeans and white shirts.
Pete Pin, photographer. Mon Em, Philadelphia, with personal mementos; photographed 2010–2013, printed 2020. Inkjet prints. Prints & Photographs Division (027.02.00)
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Color photograph with three-quarter portrait of Duong Meas displayed next to older black and white photograph. On left, color photograph shows Meas with short white hair, wearing black and white top. On right, worn black and white photograph shows group of children in 1960’s clothing.
Pete Pin, photographer. Duong Meas, Stockton, California with personal mementos; photographed 2010, printed 2020. Inkjet prints. Prints & Photographs Division (027.00.00)
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Photograph of Mon Em sits next to official document made many years earlier. Photograph on left shows Mon Em with closely cropped white hair wearing lavender shirt. Document on right has handwritten text, official stamps, fingerprint, and black and white picture of Mon Em as young woman holding placard inscribed with her name and identifying information.
Pete Pin, photographer. My father, John Tha Pin, Hollister, CA, with personal mementos; photographed 2010–2013, printed 2020. Inkjet prints. Prints & Photographs Division (027.01.00)
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Migrations of Memory

Born in the Khao-I-Dang refugee camp on the border of Cambodia and Thailand, Pete Pin was brought to the United States as a baby and raised in California. His family fled the Khmer Rouge, a totalitarian regime that waged a genocide resulting in the death of nearly a third of all Cambodians. In 2010, he began Migrations of Memory. This photography project depicts the experiences of Cambodian Americans in different parts of the United States.