In Where We Are , Ashia Hill walks through Manhattan as both an observer and a returning presence, drawn by a persistent curiosity about the neighborhoods that shape the city and the people who inhabit them. Moving through streets that feel at once familiar and distant, she photographs individuals she encounters in several well-known yet starkly different areas of the borough. These moments are not staged or planned; they unfold through chance meetings, brief exchanges, and the quiet act of noticing.

Born in New York City but raised in Atlanta, Hill approaches Manhattan with a layered sense of identity. The city represents both origin and absence, home, yet not entirely hers. As she photographs, each neighborhood becomes a site of reflection, offering glimpses into lives that mirror the city’s complexity while prompting her own questions about belonging and connection. The camera becomes a way for her to slow down, to look more closely, and to situate herself within a place shaped by her family’s deep roots.

Where We Are is as much about presence as it is about place. Through these images, the artist traces a personal journey of return, using photography to bridge distance between past and present, self and city, observer and participant.