A narrative photography book documenting a global migration wave transforming life in Mexico’s fastest-growing city: Playa Del Carmen.
Coming Soon.
The Exodus Book features dozens of migration stories and striking portraits, introducing you to the artists, families, and freedom-seekers who’ve made Playa del Carmen home since 2020.
Blending photojournalism and critical reflection, this collection of stories invites you to consider how we create home, belonging, and possibility as conscious global citizens in an evolving world.
About the Authors
As newcomers who have also made Mexico home, the authors created The Exodus Book as a visual and narrative offering—one that honors this moment of mass migration and invites us to move through the world with more care.
COURTNEY BOWDEN | Writer
She is a Telly Award–winning storyteller, creative director, and the host/creator of Black Expat Stories, an ethnographic cultural archive documenting America’s Next Great Migration: the Blaxit movement.
She is also a former strategic advisor on U.S. policy for Americans living overseas, having served on an informal White House advisory committee during the Biden–Harris administration.
Courtney’s work explores the intersections of race, migration, and cultural memory through oral history, multimedia, and place-based storytelling.
As a writer, speaker, and interviewer, she’s been featured on NPR and InvestigateTV amplifying the voices of Black and Brown people who are reimagining freedom beyond the U.S.
Courtney holds dual B.A.s in Communication and English Literature from Denison University and an M.A. in Media Studies from The Pennsylvania State University.
At the heart of her work is a deep commitment to honoring the breadth of human experience. As a documentarian and witness, she centers the stories that mainstream media often overlooks, creating space for marginalized people to be seen, heard, and remembered with greater depth and dignity. The Exodus Book builds on that foundation, deepening a lifelong dedication to illuminating voices too often left at the margins.
HALIMA GELLMAN | Photographer
She is a photographer, international human rights advocate, and international development and peacebuilding professional.
Halima brings over 20 years of experience working with local and international organizations across the globe. Her work spans multiple fields, including gender-based violence, refugee resettlement, women and youth empowerment, labor rights, prison education, and humanitarian aid.
Halima has extensive experience in conflict and post-conflict countries as well as emergency contexts. She has lived and worked in more than a dozen countries and traveled to over 45.
She holds an M.S. in international relations from New York University.
Through her captivating lens, she invites readers of The Exodus Book to consider how we can reimagine globalization.