Artists Statement

"With 43 million refugees in the world, the issue of migration is huge. I hope to use the Canon / Royal Photographic Society Bursary to tell a small part of this global issue.

European countries are actively supporting regime change across the Middle East and North Africa, backing the rebellions and uprisings taking place there in what has become known as the Arab Spring.

At the same time, countries in Europe are re-thinking the Schengen Agreement that grants open borders and free movement within the European Union. Britain has stated that it won’t allow any migrants created by the Arab Spring into the country, France temporarily closed its own border with Italy to prevent further immigration and Denmark has closed its borders completely.

As a direct result of the Arab Spring, 30,000 migrants have left their respective countries and made the perilous journey by sea, often in hugely over crowded vessels to islands like Malta and Lampedusa. Located just 70 miles offshore from North Africa, these islands are often the first European arrival points for migrants from Libya and Tunisia. This is where I hope to start my project, with the Canon / Royal Photographic Society Bursary allowing me to travel and document the issues and problems facing migrants as they begin a journey taking them from Italy, through France and finally into the UK, photographing at key locations along the migrant route.

I would begin by following these groups of migrants on their journeys as they make their way from Lampedusa, to the Italian / French border town of Ventimiglia, the next point on their journey as they try to cross into France. Here they try and board trains heading to Nice, often only to be removed again by the French authorities. Once in France, migrants wanting to reach England will try and make their way to the Gare du Nord train station in Paris where they hope to board the Eurostar. Others will make their way to Calais to try and hide aboard lorries and vans heading to the UK. Due to the difficulty of getting on board, migrants are often stranded here, living in squalid conditions in an encampment that has become known as ‘Africa House’, a place gathering a reputation similar to the infamous ‘Sangatte’ migrant camp the French closed down in 2002. I would primarily use the bursary to make several trips to these places, each of which are key to creating an accurate reportage of this migration route across Europe. The bursary would also help contribute to any material and presentation costs of the finished work.   

My project focuses on the contradiction that while European countries support these events in the name of freedom, they are at the same time denying the refugees created by these resulting conflicts, that same freedom to escape and seek a new life in Europe."