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Caption on Instagram:
When speaking with Abul , he spoke of his harrowing journey across the Mediterranean to Greece and then on to Italy in search of a more stable life. Can you imagine taking that journey?
When speaking of his experience in Italy he said ‘my life here is very bad, I can’t describe it, my home before was peace and serenity’ Following Abul s story, I have created an image to show the direct contrast between the dramatic street-scape of present Syria and the simultaneously peaceful streets of his new settlement in Italy. Do these Italian streets feel peaceful or are they a constant reminder of what was lost? Abul described his last moments in Syria as ‘unforgettable.’
Caption on Instagram:
When talking to Hazem, the most memorable part of our conversation was his recollection of what home meant to him - 'home is like the mother that gives everything you need, without asking for anything back.' Hazem sailed on a boat to Greece, travelled across Europe and finally is looking for asylum seeker status in Germany.
By bringing Hazems story into familiar settings, we can start to understand his experiences and the struggle and differences between east and west. Inspired by the artist @ugurgallen, I have depicted Hazems journey from Syria to Germany, highlighting the contrast between his war torn country and the clean cut Brandenburg gate in berlin. Can we imagine our lives continuing if our world started crumbling around us?
During our conversation, Hazem recalled the suffering he faced and the poor conditions he was exposed to in the camps. 'It was really horrible, it was winter and we had to live in a Tent and we had nothing at all, the food was not good, actually we were suffering'
Caption on Instagram:
From my conversation with Ahmed, the most interesting thing I learnt was his acceptance of Greece as a new and favourable home. He says he has been given ‘the right to work, study and have a home’. Adding that ‘the behaviour towards me has been so nice.’
Ahmed made the horrific journey from Syria to Greece via boat and here I’ve depicted the contrast between the two countries by merging images from both countries. It seems for Ahmed, his time in Greece reflects the situation most refugees hope for. Does this image then portray a favourable transition between war and peace?
Caption on Instagram:
Can we imagine the effects of conflict and therefore being displaced from our own towns and lives? Imagining my home city of Manchester in this way brings home the message that this is happening right now to and in someone else’s town. Comment below
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Following The stories of 3 of the refugees i interviewed, I began to map out their journeys, from where they started to where they ended up. I chose the 3 stories originating from Syria to compare how people from the largest displacement area have spread across Europe.
This allowed me to visualise the contrast between the ‘east’ and ‘west’ in order to collage, similar to the method used by Ugar Gallen.
I sourced images from Syria to collage, but I also wanted to bring the message home to Manchester, putting the gravity of this situation into perspective. By destroying iconic parts of Manchester, similar to what we’ve seen in the Syrian images, can we begin to understand the atrocities that lead to displacement?
Hazem's Journey
Syria > Greece
Abul's Journey
Syria > Italy
I collaged images of war torn Syria merged with the clean cut streets and spaces of the new host countries. This methodology aims to show the shocking contrast between both worlds as well as how intertwined they can be. 2 of the names have been changed for confidentiality and only snippets of their stories used for captioning
Similar to the work of Ugar Gallen, captioning the images is the most important in terms of storytelling. Therefore in all my Instagram posts, the caption has been as detailed, engaging and true to the story it is depicting.
COMMENTS
Ahmed's Journey
Syria > Greece
Ugar Gallen