Monthly Meeting Speaker: Jānis Miglavs

“Photography is a huge blessing for me. Not only was it a great way to earn a living, it also  provides a format for two personal projects seeking answers to nothing less than who am I.  

The first, We All Have Five Fingers, started when I learned that anthropologists and DNA tell us  that all of us modern humans came from ancestral roots in Africa. Then, reading mythologists  like Joseph Campbell, I wondered what else did these ancients pass on to us?  

So, over a period of 14 years, I went looking for answers to life’s big mysteries from the chiefs,  storytellers and shamans of Africa’s most remote tribes. I asked questions like what happens  after we die? What does God look like? What do nocturnal dreams tell us? The answers  surprised me. 

The second project, Immigrant’s Stories for his Grandchildren, started with tears. Why did I cry  each time I visited my motherland, Latvia? Is it true that cultural and parental trauma can be  passed to children? 

Oh, the stories of escape, born as a displaced person, being an immigrant, growing up in two  cultures and now feeling a deep inner trauma from events in my American homeland. 

Please join me to see what I discovered.”

— Thank you. Jānis Miglavs

About the Virtual Monthly Presenter’s Meeting

Our featured speakers are typically accomplished photographers from throughout the US and beyond. The monthly meetings also include a “photo challenge” segment, in which all current PPF members are invited to submit photos that reflect a specific theme. These meetings are the Third Monday of the month and open to the public. 

If you are not a member, but would like to learn more about meetings, sign up for our newsletter using the form at the bottom of the page.

Photo courtesy Jānis Miglavs

Photo courtesy Jānis Miglavs