british journal of photography
https://www.bjp-online.com/tag/migration/
https://www.bjp-online.com/tag/migration/
All posts tagged: migration
César Dezfuli on his Taylor Wessing-winning portrait of Amadou
“This image documents a transcendental fact in the life of the
person portrayed: Amadou had just been rescued from the sea by a
European vessel,” says Dezfuli. “Apparently his dream is fulfilled.
However, fear, mistrust and uncertainty are present, as well as
determination and strength.” For his series, Passengers, photographer
Cesar Dezfuli took a sequence of 118 photographs in 120 minutes as a
boat load of refugees were rescued just off the coast of Libya. These
people had journeyed from different countries looking for a better
future in Europe.
Mahtab Hussain’s You Get Me?
“When 9/11 happened, I was four, so obviously I didn’t really
know what was going on. But in terms of now, of how Muslims are
portrayed in the media, I think it’s a very one-sided story. We’re all
terrorists, evil, who want to take over this country. I mean, thinking
back now, I was only four, so all I’ve experienced is that this country
hates me.” So says one of the sitters in Mahtab Hussain’s You Get Me?, a
series of portraits shot over nine years in Birmingham, Nottingham and
London. It shows young, working class, British Asian men, a group which
has been negatively depicted in the media since 9/11 but which Hussain
hopes to portray in a more nuanced way.
Alessandro Penso brings migration home to the Europeans
Long before the public sat up and took notice of the staggering
number of refugees risking everything to make their way to Europe,
Alessandro Penso had made migration to the continent the focus of his
work. Since 2009 he has been documenting the conditions of refugees who
have attempted to cross borders in search of safety and the hope of a
better future for themselves and their families. Beginning with
detention centres in Malta, which many migrants had mistaken for Penso’s
homeland of Italy, the photographer then travelled to Bulgaria where,
between 2012 and 2013, the number of refugees surged from 1700 to
10,200. He followed migrant agricultural workers in Italy as they moved
from one harvest to another. He also accompanied young adults from the
Middle East trying to make their way from Greece (which refuses the
majority of asylum seekers’ applications), to its neighbouring countries
and beyond, capturing the moment when one, Mostafa El Mouzadhir, was
deliberately hit by a car in a hate crime, sustaining multiple injuries.
When Penso visited him in …
Daniel Castro Garcia’s first solo exhibition FOREIGNER opens
“It’s time to leave! If you must die, die in the open sea! You
must not return. If any of you come back you’re dead. If any of you come
back and report me, you’re dead. If you have to die, you die all
together! Now go!” With these words, Aly Gadiaga, one of the migrants
portrayed in Daniel Castro Garcia’s Foreigner project, describes his
journey from the Libyan coast to Italy. Gadiaga tells his story in a
long interview recorded by the artist and included in his exhibition at
London’s TJ Boulting, his prize for winning the BJP‘s International
Photography Award 2017. The work on show is delicate and sensitive, a
far cry from the sensationalised accounts often offered up in the press.
“We are all foreigners,” says Castro Garcia, adding that he hopes to
inspire respect rather than pity. “It’s not just about respecting those
in the photographs – the audience also deserves respect,” he says. “At
the heart of this work was the desire to create a dignified response to
this humanitarian …
Donate to the ACLU, get our Migration issue free of charge
In September 2016, BJP published a special issue focused on the
European migrant crisis which, over the last couple of years, has seen a
surge of people entering the continent. Many are refugees fleeing
conflict, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stating
that in 2015 49% of those arriving from the Mediterranean came from
Syria, 21% came from Afghanistan, and 8% from Iraq. Even so, attitudes
in Europe have hardened, and photography has played a sometimes dubious
role in fostering that colder climate. We interviewed image-makers such
as Sam Ivin, whose defaced portraits reflect the sense of abandonment
among his subjects, migrants seeking refuge in the UK; we also spoke
with Patrick Willocq about his work for Save the Children, which aimed
to help child refugees in two African camps express their thoughts and
experiences. This issue also included interviews with Alessandro Penso,
David Molina Gadea, Seba Kurtis, Daniel Castro Garcia and Dario
Mitidieri on their work with migrants. In light of recent events we are
offering free digital copies of this issue, …
Light Eye Mind Gallery Takes a Look at Forced Migration
The exhibition, which closes 27 November, offers a different perspective on forced migration.
Editor’s Introduction: The Migration Issue (BJP #7851)
This issue of BJP focuses on the European migrant crisis which,
over the last couple of years, has seen a surge of people entering the
continent. Many are refugees fleeing conflict, with the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees stating that in 2015 49% of those
arriving from the Mediterranean came from Syria, 21% came from
Afghanistan, and 8% from Iraq. Even so, attitudes in Europe have
hardened, and photography has played a sometimes dubious role in
fostering that colder climate. Upon Googling ‘refugee children’, Patrick
Willocq found hundreds of pictures that looked the same, he tells BJP –
“people on beaches, children crying, very little humanity.” His
response, created for Save the Children, was to collaborate with young
refugees and reflect their mental state instead, and the same sense of
humanity runs through the other projects we’ve featured. “It’s no longer
about making people aware of the migrants’ movements. They know,” says
Alessandro Penso. “It’s now something else, something more personal,
something about empathy.” In taking this approach, these photographers
open themselves up to …
The Malian festival celebrating the diversity and vitality of African photography
Bamako Encounters, set up primarily to showcase African
photography, had to wait a long time to celebrate its tenth edition. The
festivities were initially scheduled for autumn 2013 – 20 years after
French photographer Françoise Huguier began the initiative in the
Malian capital. But in January 2012, insurgent groups began fighting for
the independence of the Azawad region. Within two months, President
Amadou Toumani Touré had been ousted but the rebels splintered as soon
as they had declared victory. Islamist factions prevailed, imposing
strict Sharia law in the region. Unable to bring the conflict to an end
on its own, the Malian government called for foreign military support.
France, once the colonial power, controversially got involved. Its
forces rapidly regained control but guerilla attacks continued for
months before a first peace deal was signed in June 2013. That agreement
didn’t last but a fragile new accord was signed in June this year. The
unrest prevented the Bamako Encounters team from staging the event, but
this year they decided to take advantage of what looks like a more
enduring …
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