From 1904 through 1920 Augustus F. Sherman, a registry clerk at Ellis Island, systematically photographed prospective immigrants to the United States; Romanian shepherds, Greek priests, Russian vegetarians, Moroccan children, often arrayed in elaborate national dress, seem remarkably close and present in these portraits. Together his images form a unique view of the flow of immigration in the early twentieth century, and at the same time reveal much about the political and social controversies that surrounded the issue. Seventy-five images from his archive are traveling to museums in Europe and the United States in an exhibition organized by the Aperture Foundation.
Aperture, a not-for-profit organization devoted to photography and the visual arts, has organized this traveling exhibition and produced the accompanying publications.