maisiebuchanan

[maisiebuchanan]

These photographs are by Tom Price, and are part of a movement called #changethestory from an article called talking peace.

These are all people who have fled their home in South Sudan to the UK. They all meet together and “talk about the current conflict and the road to peace”.

I chose these photographs because I feel like it shows refugees and immagrants is a different light, it shows them not as victims but social activists and normal people who want change. This platform gives them a voice to be heard and the respect they deserve.

“I am South Sudanese and we are standing for peace and unity and justice”

For these people there is hope, a hope for justice, a hope for unity, a hope for peace, a future, and a good life.

Talking Peace | Christian Aid Collective. 2017. Talking Peace | Christian Aid Collective. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.christianaidcollective.org/talking-peace-south-sudan-gallery [Accessed 12 December 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

These photographs were taken by Norbert Baksa 2015 called ‘Der Migrant”.

These images have been taken down due to uproar and controversy with people describing it as “utterly disgusting”.

These photographs were intended to bring to light the ‘complexity’ of the growing crisis happening on the borders of his country, Hungary.

Using this fashion shoot he tried to use a different plasm to raise awareness of this humanitarian crisis, but instead he had been accused of “demeaning refugees”.

I chose these photographs because of the controversy surrounding them, Norbert Baksa - “These people find the pictures offensive, but we never meant to offend anybody, but rather to draw the attention to the complexity of these people’s problem,”

The Independent. 2017. 'Migrant chic' photoshoot was not meant to be offensive, says Hungarian photographer | The Independent. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/photography/migrant-chic-photoshoot-was-not-meant-to-be-offensive-says-hungarian-photographer-a6686651.html. [Accessed 12 December 2017].

Mail Online. 2017. 'This is utterly sick': Twitter backlash over photographer's REFUGEE fashion shoot... complete with models wearing designer clothes being dragged away by 'police' | Daily Mail Online. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3263017/This-utterly-sick-Twitter-backlash-photographer-s-REFUGEE-fashion-shoot-complete-models-wearing-designer-clothes-dragged-away-police.html. [Accessed 12 December 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

This photograph is by Alfred Eisenstaedt of a World War II refugee, 1944 in America.

When I think about refugees I think about them being mainly from the Middle East. I didn’t really realise that post WWII there was a huge displacement of people fleeing to war and persecution in European countries. So, I chose this image because it is off a woman Paris who fled to Italy, was then arrested, but manged to get to the allies and then went to America.

This image although is about one woman and her family, it represents everyone who has fled from war, poverty, persecution and injustice. 

It’s the tag on the woman’s chest that sticks out to me, it seems so demoralising having to wear a tag, like an animal. After losing almost everything, you have now lost you humanity.

“the minute you see that picture connected with the word refugee, you are an outsider.”

Public Radio International. 2017. During WWII, European refugees fled to Syria. Here's what the camps were like. | Public Radio International. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-26/what-it-s-inside-refugee-camp-europeans-who-fled-syria-egypt-and-palestine-during. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

Credit: United Nations Archives and Records Management Section and Muhammad Hamed/Reuters

As I was researching I came across images like this. The one on the left is Nuseirat, Palestine 1945 Tented settelment for World War II refugees, and the one on the right is Amman, Jordan 2015, a settlement built for Syrian refugees. I can't help but notice how similar they are in the 70 years they are set apart. This shocked me so much that with all the development in the world, the the horrors that we have already seen with previous humanitarian crises, and human displacement, why then haven't we changed the way we look after and view people seeking asylum.

Public Radio International. 2017. During WWII, European refugees fled to Syria. Here's what the camps were like. | Public Radio International. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-26/what-it-s-inside-refugee-camp-europeans-who-fled-syria-egypt-and-palestine-during. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

https://cdn2.pri.org/embeds/refugee-camp-viewer.html

https://cdn2.pri.org/embeds/refugee-laundry-viewer.html

[maisiebuchanan]

This is part of a group exhibition held at the Baltic in Gateshead 27 January – 14 May 2017. The contributors to the exhibition include: James Bridle, Tomo Brody, Aikaterini Gegisian, ScanLAB Projects & Embassy for the displaced, Forensic Architecture (Lorenzo Pezzani & Charles Heller), Jackie Karuti, Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen, Hrair Sarkissian, Skart collective- Djordje Balmazovic, Wolfgang Tillmans, Watch the Med.

This is part of a campaign called Amnesty International with more than 7 million people worldwide who stand injustice no more. We are Ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.

 This Exhibition was made up of multiple pieces ranging from videos, images, found objects, insitations, maps and most interesting of all a virtual experience.

The virtual experience really hit home with everyone who participated. It left people realising that we take safety for granted, and revealed parts of the traumatic experience that asylum seekers and refugees coming across the Mediterranean from Libya experience.

I chose this exhibition mainly because of the virtual experience, we only saw a glimpse of what refugees go through and it’s enough to inspire people to want more for these people displaced by war.

 Baltic Plus | Disappearance at Sea – Mare Nostrum: Interpretation Guide . 2017. Baltic Plus | Disappearance at Sea – Mare Nostrum: Interpretation Guide . [ONLINE] Available at: http://balticplus.uk/disappearance-at-sea-mare-nostrum-interpretation-guide-c30929/. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

Baltic Plus | Disappearance at Sea – Mare Nostrum . 2017. Baltic Plus | Disappearance at Sea – Mare Nostrum . [ONLINE] Available at: http://balticplus.uk/disappearance-at-sea-mare-nostrum-e739/. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

Home | Amnesty International UK. 2017. Home | Amnesty International UK. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/?&gclid=CjwKCAiA07PRBRBJEiwAS20SIK6ZY5FaW9ZisT71D-tNRZgQup_9XOq2zV7Dom2eVnj-xcF8LNEarRoCk4IQAvD_BwE. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

This image is by Sergey Ponomarev, November 16, 2015 Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos.

I heard somewhere that you can ignore something if you read it, but if you see it the impact is much greater. I believe this to be true for this image and all the others I’ve looked at.

The sheer number of people coming out of these countries is astonishing. There could be 50 or 60 boats each day coming into Lesbos alone, there are many more arriving in Italy and other parts of Greece.

"I had a whole range of emotions that were provoked by seeing and reporting on the migrants, from sympathy to antipathy or anger sometimes."

There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t already been said but these images are using their platform to bring about change, and awareness. They make us open our eyes to the ongoing crisis happening with migration.

World Press Photo. 2017. 2016 Sergey Ponomarev GNS1-AH | World Press Photo. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2016/general-news/sergey-ponomarev. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

International Center of Photography. 2017. Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change | International Center of Photography. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/perpetual-revolution-the-image-and-social-change. [Accessed 10 December 2017].

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This film ‘Human Flow” is by Ai Weiwei 2017.

This is a film about “the greatest human displacement since World War II”. It is a film that spans 23 countries documenting the vast amount of people displaced looking for safety.

I think this film talks for itself, I myself have only seen the trailer as the film has only recently premiered, but the impact still is huge.

This film I feel is a very truthful, honest and heart wrenching portrayal that inspires change, even from the trailer.

Human Flow (Official Movie Site): Synopsis - In Cinemas December 8. 2017. Human Flow (Official Movie Site): Synopsis - In Cinemas December 8. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.humanflow.film/synopsis/?campaign=YouTubeV1. [Accessed 09 December 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

Because of the millions of refugees and asylum seekers are making the perilous journey fleeing their countries over the Mediterranean sea with thousands of migrants dying each year, Cesar Dezfuli was putting faces to those numbers.

Cesar Dezfuli's entry to the BJP Breakthrough Awards 2017. This single image of a refugee named Amadou is taken from a larger series of work called Passenger taken onboard an NGO rescue vessel, operating in the Mediterranean Sea © Cesar Dezfuli

“Documenting it can serve to bring this migration reality closer to those who only observe it from a distance”

He photographed 118 people in 120 minutes as they were being transferred from their over crowded dingy to NGO rescue vessel.

I chose this photograph because it humanises and personalises the greatest humanitarian crisis of modern history. The series passenger really hits home that these are real people that need help.

British Journal of Photography. 2017. César Dezfuli on his Taylor Wessing-winning portrait of Amadou – British Journal of Photography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bjp-online.com/2017/11/sure-shot-cesar-dezfuli/#OpenContactFormCust00. [Accessed 27 November 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

These Videos are by Jack Howard and Benjamin Cook YouTube filmmakers in 2014 about the Syrian refugee crisis.

In the social media age YouTube has become one of, if not the biggest, quickest and most engaging (especially for the younger generation) platforms to spread opinions, news, information and awareness. Within a week of a large natural disaster happening, people viewed news stories on YouTube more than 96 million times (March 11-18 2011).

With the Syrian refugee crisis happening many charities such as Oxfam took to the YouTube platform and asked YouTube stars such as Jack Howard and Benjamin Cook with established yet impressionable audiences to make videos raising awareness about the humanitarian crisis.

They use humour and just talk about their experience of visiting the tented settlements of Jordan and letting those who live there have a platform to let their voices be heard.

Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. 2017. YouTube & News | Pew Research Center. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.journalism.org/2012/07/16/youtube-news/. [Accessed 26 November 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

This photograph is by Sebastião Salgado from the book Exodus 2016 (1994)

 Rwandan refugee camp of Benako. Tanzania. 1994 © Sebastião Salgado / Amazonas images. All images © Sebastião Salgado, courtesy Taschen

Each generation, each country, different people but the same story. Each face just getting lost in the mass of people looking for a new, safer home.

This photograph shows the masses of people who are forced to live in temporary houses and uses it to “inspire positive behavioural change”. Even through the traumatic ordeal of having to leave your home, this baby can still smile at its mother.

[1] British Journal of Photography. 2017. Sebastião Salgado’s Eternal Images of Humanity on the Move – British Journal of Photography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bjp-online.com/2016/07/sebastiao-salgados-eternal-images-of-humanity-on-the-move/#closeContactFormCust00. [Accessed 25 November 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

This photograph is by Sebastião Salgado from the book Exodus 2016 (1996)   

This photograph is again trying to show the regime of war and trying to bring awareness to what was happening with the war in Afghanistan, and how it is affecting the civilians.  

A few days after the Taliban seized Kabul, women were forbidden to show their faces or to have any activity outside their homes except collecting food and medicine at distribution centers, Kabul, Afghanistan, 1996 © Sebastião Salgado / Amazonas images

After failed attempts of revolutions many Muslims started to give up hope and looked-for refuge elsewhere, including Europe. People were getting so hopeless they felt that risking their lives with the crossing to Europe was a better decision than staying in their homeland. [1]

[1] British Journal of Photography. 2017. Sebastião Salgado’s Eternal Images of Humanity on the Move – British Journal of Photography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bjp-online.com/2016/07/sebastiao-salgados-eternal-images-of-humanity-on-the-move/#closeContactFormCust00. [Accessed 25 November 2017].

[maisiebuchanan]

This Photograph is by Steve McCurry from the article in the April 2002  National Geographic magazine when they found the ‘Afghan Girl’ after 17 years of looking. (2002)

Sharbat Gula is her name.

This photograph tries to evoke change by telling the ordeal of the young girl that captivated the world 17 years earlier. Using the platform and readership of National Geographic to create awareness of the tragedies and upheaval caused by war, which in turn sparked a new whirl wind of people inspired by her story.

In 2002 1,834,537 refugees returned to Afghanistan, 1,565,066 from Pakistan. From 2002-2009 4,369,086 returned home. [1]

In the article that accompanies this photograph in National Geographic asks Sharbat Gula if she had ever felt safe? Her reply was “No. But life under the Taliban was better. At least there was peace and order.” [2]

 [1] UNHCR. February 2009 | Voluntary Repatriations | UNHCR [PDF] Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/49ba2f5e2.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2017] [2] Cathy Newman. April 2002 | A life revealed | National Geographic [MAGAZINE] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2002/04/afghan-girl-revealed/ [Accessed 25 November 2017]

[maisiebuchanan]

This Photograph is by Steve McCurry from the cover of the June 1985 National Geographic cover, and is a part of a body of work documenting the ordeal of Afghanistan’s refugees (1984).

 This photograph is so moving that countless people were “inspired by the photograph to volunteer in refugee camps or do aid work in Afghanistan” [1]

I chose this photograph because of how unforgettable and relevant this is 32 years later. There is no forgetting those piercing green blue eyes, they are stay with everyone who sees them.

Around 5 million Afghans crossed into Pakistan from 1979-2001. [2] Afghanistan had the worst refugee crisis the world had seen up until the European migrant crisis 2015-present. Its estimated that a quarter of Afghans [3] had been a refugee between 1979-2001.

[1] Cathy Newman. April 2002 | A life revealed | National Geographic [MAGAZINE] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2002/04/afghan-girl-revealed/ [Accessed 17 November 2017]

[2] IRIN. 2017. IRIN | Timeline of Afghan displacements into Pakistan. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.irinnews.org/news/2012/02/27/timeline-afghan-displacements-pakistan. [Accessed 17 November 2017].

[3] Hiram A Ruiz. 2001 | Afghanistan: conflict and displacement 1978 to 2001| FMR (forced migration review) [ARTICLE] Available at:    http://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/FMRpdfs/FMR13/fmr13.3.pdf [Accessed 17 November 2017]