FAMILY PORTRAITS
These family portraits were offered to the residents of Kara Tepe and Moria refugee camps on the Greek island of Lesvos over several visits from 2017-2019. The families there were fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries, including Afghanistan and Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Congo. Most refugees have been traveling for years.
The photographs were made in and around the camps, beside ancient olive trees whose branches are universal symbols of peace. A package of photos was printed out at a local Kodak store and delivered to the families within days. They were warmly received over tea and sweets. Some parents remarked that the photo sessions made them feel like a “normal” family, for the first time in a very long time.
The portraits mark a decisive moment in a family’s history. They are reminders that the refugee crisis, regularly depicted as a mass migration of undesirables, represents a collection of individual acts, made for love and preservation of family.
The exhibition, “Family Portraits: Reframing the Refugee’s Experience,” toured public libraries across the Netherlands in 2022. Each library offered public programming around the theme of “Home.” Events were designed to engage local families in conversions about migration at a time when Ukrainian refugees were seeking shelter in Holland.
I was asked to write about the project for Public Books, an online magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship. This inspired me to revisit four families who have since resettled in Germany. The essay, ”Where We Live Now,” includes new family portraits.
Family Portraits was done in partnership with the Dutch NGO Movement on the Ground. The project was first shown in 2018 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in Athens, Greece.