Invisible Threads

Invisible Threads is a collaborative portrait and narrative project that offers an intimate look into the lives of immigrants who have made Cape Cod their home. Created through a shared process between photographer Julia Cumes, lighting director Lipe Borges, and the subjects themselves, the portraits are intentionally constructed rather than photojournalistic, shaped through conversation, trust, and personal choice.

Often understood primarily as a summer destination, Cape Cod is also one of the earliest landing points in the United States’ immigration history—a place shaped for centuries by arrival, labor, displacement, and reinvention. Drawing on this deeper historical context, the project connects contemporary migration stories to a much longer American narrative. Through carefully crafted portraits made in homes, workplaces, and meaningful personal spaces, Invisible Threads reflects resilience, identity, and the enduring human search for belonging. Extended captions drawn from in-depth interviews allow participants to shape their own narratives, centering dignity, agency, and authenticity.

Julia Cumes is a South Africa–born, Cape Cod–based photographer whose work explores identity, migration, community, and human connection through collaborative, narrative-driven portraiture. Growing up in apartheid-era South Africa, she became aware early on of photography’s power to reveal truth, evoke empathy, and foster dialogue—an understanding that continues to inform her practice.

Lipe Borges is a Brazilian-born photographer and lighting director based on Cape Cod. Borges brings a cinematic, narrative-driven approach to portraiture, using carefully constructed lighting environments to create images with emotional depth and psychological presence.