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‘Refugee’ by directors C. Malpas and L. Knott is a documentary released in 2016 that portray five preeminent photographers who travelled the world to present insight into the difficult situations faced by refugees.
The story starts with a definition of the word ‘refugee’ and states the two main questions that the film tries to answer. What does it mean to flee your home, seeking safety and to be a refugee.
The film is separated in five parts, one part for each place around the world.
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Lesbos, Greece
British war photojournalist Tom Studdart who has covered war and humanitarian crisis all over the world was not prepared for what he saw on the beaches of Lesbos in Greece. Firstly, you see a little black dot on the horizon and try to guess what it is. As, it gets closer you begin to pick out the red any you realize that they are life jackets. There are literally thousands of life jackets and each one of them is a life / a person that has been wearing one. He photographs the contitual flow of migrant rafts from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos as thousands flee conflict in Syria, Iraq and other countries. His photos are emotional close ups, in black and white, showing faces and expressions of people in distress. He talks with the immigrants and helps them to leave and continue their perilous journey to central Europe.
Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide pictures hang in leading museums around the world. In the shanties of Buenaventura on the west coast of Colombia she meets the internally displaced refugees who have fled to escape gang violence, freedom fighters, and the drug cartels. She points that refugges not only lose their homeland but also a part of theri soul. She ‘hires’ a girl assistant to help her take good pictures and communicate with locals. She approaches her subjects like anthropologists, recording rituals of everyday life. She does not only record the facts but also feels the responsibility to help people in need. She also gave photography lessons to local childen. Her photos are in black and white reducing photography to its essentials and represent reality.She believes that photography cannot save the world, we have to save it.
Kousseri, Cameroon
Senegalese photographer Omar Diop body of work includes fashion photography, fine arts and advertising. His photographs, using vivid colours and surreal portraits are influenced from early Baroque art and Hollywood. He went for the first time in a refugee camp to shoot portraits of refugees who have fled the violence in the Central African Republic. He is polite and takes photos of refugees, without makeup artists, tailors or stylists. He feels like a refugee himself and understands others feelings.
Rakhine State, Myanmar
Pulitzer prize-winning American photojournalist Lynsey Addario, has traveled the world, covering horror at war and human right issues, especially the role of women in tradional societies. This is the first time she has been to Myanmar to document the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. There are an estimated 1 million stateless Rohingya living in the largest refugee camp in the world. Many Rohingya villages have been targeted and destroyed by fire forcibly disclacing and confined them to a small strip of land on the western coast.
Lynsey choose to photograph a breathless woman (Mariam Katu) in the local medical center. Later, she photographed he again in the village. Mariam did not get proper medical trearment in Rackine which result in her death ten days later.
Her low lighting and close up photos are emotional, showing the face and expressions of Mariams suffering.
Lynsey believes that no one want to be a refugee, they are forced to.
New York, U.S.A.
German-born Martin Schoeller shoots portraits for some of the biggest magazines and clients, from National Geographic Magazine to Vogue. He likes the idea of reducing people just to their facial expressions in their faces that feel more devoted. His photos arent retouched at all and have similar format and look, which is uncommon in magazine photograph.
This time he photographs a resettled former refugee named Patricia in his Manhattan studio.Patrician fled Congo after she got raped and left for dead and saw her show her dad get killed in front of her eyes.Martin findss it is shocking to see what people have to overcome in their life and what a long journey it is to get in the U.S.A.
He took the portraits for attention and to show us that immigrants are not a threat.
Berlin, Germany
Tom Stoddart followed the refugees from Lesbos, and finally, they reached Berlin, their odyssey is over. He photographs a refugee that went from Turkey to Greece by swimming. When he arrived at the Greek coast he started to shout and jump, even he was very tired. The refugee points that some people do not like refugees in Germany because they are so many. There are a million refugees in Germany, and this is a big number. Tom hopes that the viewers of his photos will take at their faces and see the courage and determination to carry on.
I am thankful for everything in life, because I am alive.
Conclusively, there are tens of millions refugees worldwide that emigrade from one country to another for a variety of complex reasons. Many immigrants stay undocumented and there are concerns about national security, protection of national identity, religion, local culcure and national economy.
Conversely, that act of securizing immigration is more threatening than immigration itself, as it often results in racism and xenophobia, leading to social decomposition.
Worldwide, progresive people, like the above photographers and photojournalists, share ths belief, . Their arduous work influence posivetely people s prospective towards immigration, and give us good examples how we can be better journalists.
