Amid one of the most tumultuous presidential elections in American history, photographer Mark Bennington captured a series of portraits and interviews with young Muslim Americans in New York City, creating what he describes as "a visual translation through representation of what a dynamic American community should look like."
Mark spoke to BuzzFeed about what this project, America 2.0, means to him:
"The idea germinated in the beginning of 2016, with all the Muslim/Trump rhetoric, so it was definitely a direct response to what I felt were politicized images of American Muslims continually being depicted as some plagued foreign diaspora.
I found this to be a crucial time to start a project that focused on the everyday of Muslim youth: What do ordinary lives and aspirations look like? Conversations on the youth have become huge during this election season, largely because of Bernie Sanders’ fervor. It made sense to start my journey of America 2.0 portraits with youth experiences in my own backyard, New York City. This is how the project unfolded."