Cinthya Santos Briones: Living in Sanctuary presents documentary photographs tracing the lives of undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees who have sought refuge within churches, temples, and faith communities. Begun in 2017 in response to escalating deportations and family separations, the work follows individuals navigating lives shaped by legal precarity and prolonged confinement — meals, chores, celebrations, and rest coexisting within spaces where beds and personal objects sit alongside altars and pews. The sacred architecture of these environments, reconfigured as living quarters, becomes a layered site where public, private, and sacred are continually renegotiated. For Briones, whose husband co-founded the New Sanctuary Movement in New York City, the subject is both professional and deeply personal.
