In Im*migrant, Mélanie Wider investigates the theme of immigration through the stories of immigrants who, like her, migrated to the US. While recent political debates reduce the problematic of immigration to matters of legal vs. illegal, Mélanie Wider shifts the focus of this issue by documenting immigrant stories. Each immigrant's portrait is accompanied by his/her story inviting the viewer in his turn to take part in the migratory act. By doing so the viewer becomes part of the story, making of immigration a history shared by all.

It was in reaction to her own experience obtaining a work visa that the problematic of immigration became a topic of interest for Mélanie Wider. Behind the question of legal vs. illegal that often simplifies the problematic of immigration, there are individuals. There are stories of immigrants who one day left their country for another, who rebuilt, relearnt and re-started everything. Those are the stories that in the midst of a highly politicized debate, were forgotten, even sometimes by the immigrants themselves.

The project presents each immigrant's portrait accompanied by a notebook relating his/her story. By materializing those stories, Mélanie Wider attempts to inscribe immigration not as a single person's story, but as a common history. They are part of L.A.'s past and present. In a city where some say all your dreams come true, the place where most Angelenos look to fulfill their dreams on a daily basis is Craigslist, and that too is where Mélanie sought to recruit them.

Following a series of posts inviting immigrants to share their stories, always presenting herself as a fellow immigrant, she met with all respondents. Their common background immediately allowed for a more open discussion. The handwritten notes, which Mélanie took down during the meetings, resemble a simple travelogue and by extension the idea of a journey. It is the journey of immigrants and with them their stories passed along. Once shared by many, those stories relate the multidimensionality of the immigrant's story to inscribe it not merely as a personal history, but as common history.