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. At that time, the families there were fleeing violence, and persecution in their home countries, including Afghanistan and Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Congo.
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 in their homes - tents or modified shipping containers called ISO boxes. The photos were warmly received over tea and sweets, and sometimes taped to the walls.
Most refugees have been traveling for years. The portraits mark a decisive moment in a family’s history and offer future generations a glimpse of their ancestors. 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.
Both of these camps are now gone. Moria burned to the ground in December 2020, and Kara Tepe was closed in April 2021.
This project was done in partnership with the Dutch NGO Movement on the Ground, still hard at work in Greece and elsewhere in the EU.
In 2021-2022, Family Portraits - the Exhibit toured public libraries across The Netherlands. The project made its debut at The Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s International Conference on Philanthropy in Athens in 2018.
