On the (illegal) way
This photo project aims at gathering stories of traumatic episodes that people had to experience during different migration routes from their country of origin to Europe and visually reenacting them through photographs. The images will be paired with some small texts.
For "traumatic episodes" I refer to situations where individuals felt in danger, threateaned, overwhelmed and which had a strong impact in their lives even after the episode ended. Traumas are not limited to "big" events such as war or sexual abuse: they can happen through daily interactions when, for instance, a person gets comments about his/her weight, gender, skin color, and so on. It is not about the episode per se but how the person perceives it: what is traumatic for you does not need to be for me or the other way around.
The approach is different than conventional documentary portraits as it is participatory: the subjects will first share their story and will then be included in the creation of the image composition to better describe and visualize their feelings during the situations they experienced.
As such, this project serves to the public as an unconventional photographic documentation of what many people, considered "illegal", had to go through during their migration route to Europe. As well, during the re-enactment of a specific scene/image, the subjects may process and look at those events under a different light: they now have the situation under control and it is not dangerous anymore. Perhaps on some levels it may also serve as a sort of healing. Lastly, by sharing such photographs, many other people who also experienced similar situations can find the support and energy to look for help and perhaps, eventually, share their story too.
For "traumatic episodes" I refer to situations where individuals felt in danger, threateaned, overwhelmed and which had a strong impact in their lives even after the episode ended. Traumas are not limited to "big" events such as war or sexual abuse: they can happen through daily interactions when, for instance, a person gets comments about his/her weight, gender, skin color, and so on. It is not about the episode per se but how the person perceives it: what is traumatic for you does not need to be for me or the other way around.
The approach is different than conventional documentary portraits as it is participatory: the subjects will first share their story and will then be included in the creation of the image composition to better describe and visualize their feelings during the situations they experienced.
As such, this project serves to the public as an unconventional photographic documentation of what many people, considered "illegal", had to go through during their migration route to Europe. As well, during the re-enactment of a specific scene/image, the subjects may process and look at those events under a different light: they now have the situation under control and it is not dangerous anymore. Perhaps on some levels it may also serve as a sort of healing. Lastly, by sharing such photographs, many other people who also experienced similar situations can find the support and energy to look for help and perhaps, eventually, share their story too.
