WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS by Jesper Houborg

WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS is a long term project depicting the ongoing refugee crises in Europe and beyond. [email protected] [phone] (whatsapp) I am a Danish documentary photographer based in London, UK. I work worldwide on reportage,...

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Today is the last night of my exhibition ‘The Ones Who Look the Same’ projected on a house wall in the public urban space as part of @copenhagenphotofestival. Don’t miss it if you are around Nørrebro from 22-24. —- In 2015 and 2016 I traveled to the island of Lesvos and the northern town of Idomeni in Greece to document the ongoing refugee crisis as an independent documentary photographer and volunteer for the small NGO Starfish on Lesvos. Today, the news value of the refugee is long gone and one might say replaced with indifference. With this piece of work, my hope is to re-open the conversation about the heavily debated topic of the refugee: How do you relate to the trauma of people fleeing war? How do you as a mass media consumer relate to the overload of images depicting the influx of refugees into Europe? How do you relate to people when their identity is distorted? What does the distortion of identity mean for your entitlement to human rights? Forgetting the Refugee is a re-work of my archival images from this period. By re-photographing my digital images with an analog camera, and violating the film negatives by distorting the identity of the refugees on the images. Finally, the analog negatives have been scanned and made into new digital files and printed on transparent tracing paper. With this act, I am seeking to re-actualize the image of the refugee by confronting the viewer’s gaze of the refugee and vice versa, with a violated and distorted version of the depicted people. —- #exhibition #documentaryphotography #photojournalism #analog #refuge #politics #greece #lesbos #libanon🇱🇧 #art (her: Videomøllen) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx5F29BmRX/?igshid=1lhoeaqd6yjy5

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Exited to share that ‘The Ones The Ones Who Look the Same’ opens tonight 22 pm at @videomoellen as part of @copenhagenphotofestival! A special interaktive event with more installations is this Saturday from 8.30pm to 11.30pm. Come by if you are in Copenhagen from June 6 - June 16. More info in bio. —- Visual Conversations on Refugees - how do you see the faces of the fleeing. In collaboration with Copenhagen Photofestival, we are inviting you to an interactive exhibition event. Come and experience large projections of the work The Ones Who Look the Same by documentary photographer Jesper Houborg. In addition on the event day, transparent prints of pieces will be exhibited on a light table, which gives you the opportunity to edit the presented reality. With this piece, Jesper Houborg seeks to re-open the conversation about the heavily debated topic of the refugee: How do you relate to the trauma of people fleeing war? How do you as a mass media consumer relate to the overload of images depicting the influx of refugees into Europe and beyond? How do you relate to people when their identity is distorted? What does the distortion of identity mean for your entitlement to human rights? https://copenhagenphotofestival.com/en/begivenhed/jesper-houborg-the-ones-who-look-the-same/ (her: Videomøllen) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByX7h93hMAX/?igshid=1st5buyjwfpve

[jesperhouborg]

From my Interactive exhibition project FORGETTING THE REFUGEE In 2015 and 2016 I traveled to the island of Lesvos and the northern town of Idomeni in Greece to document the ongoing refugee crisis as an independent documentary photographer and volunteer for the small NGO Starfish on Lesvos. Today, the news value of the refugee is long gone and one might say replaced with indifference. With this piece of work, my hope is to re-open the conversation about the heavily debated topic of the refugee: How do you relate to the trauma of people fleeing war? How do you as a mass media consumer relate to the overload of images depicting the influx of refugees into Europe? How do you relate to people when their identity is distorted? What does the distortion of identity mean for your entitlement to human rights? Forgetting the Refugee is a re-work of my archival images from this period. By re-photographing my digital images with an analog camera, and violating the film negatives by distorting the identity of the refugees on the images. Finally, the analog negatives have been scanned and made into new digital files and printed on transparent tracing paper. With this act, I am seeking to re-actualize the image of the refugee by confronting the viewer’s gaze of the refugee and vice versa, with a violated and distorted version of the depicted people. #lesvos #idomeni #greece #europe #refugees #war #non-citizen #identity #rights #politics #violence #photojournalism #home #away #documentary #lightbox #exhibition #eu #turkey https://www.instagram.com/p/BqJSDwtnsz9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1f862apyu35sm

[jesperhouborg]

From my Interactive exhibition project FORGETTING THE REFUGEE In 2015 and 2016 I traveled to the island of Lesvos and the northern town of Idomeni in Greece to document the ongoing refugee crisis as an independent documentary photographer and volunteer for the small NGO Starfish on Lesvos. Today, the news value of the refugee is long gone and one might say replaced with indifference. With this piece of work, my hope is to re-open the conversation about the heavily debated topic of the refugee: How do you relate to the trauma of people fleeing war? How do you as a mass media consumer relate to the overload of images depicting the influx of refugees into Europe? How do you relate to people when their identity is distorted? What does the distortion of identity mean for your entitlement to human rights? Forgetting the Refugee is a re-work of my archival images from this period. By re-photographing my digital images with an analog camera, and violating the film negatives by distorting the identity of the refugees on the images. Finally, the analog negatives have been scanned and made into new digital files and printed on transparent tracing paper. With this act, I am seeking to re-actualize the image of the refugee by confronting the viewer’s gaze of the refugee and vice versa, with a violated and distorted version of the depicted people. #lesvos #idomeni #greece #europe #refugees #war #non-citizen #identity #rights #politics #violence #photojournalism #home #away #documentary #lightbox #exhibition #eu #turkey https://www.instagram.com/p/BqJQE5FnK6Q/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zz4u2j0cx1nq

[jesperhouborg]

From my Interactive exhibition project Forgetting The Refugee. In 2015 and 2016 I traveled to the island of Lesvos and the northern town of Idomeni in Greece to document the ongoing refugee crisis as an independent documentary photographer and volunteer for the small NGO Starfish on Lesvos. Today, the news value of the refugee is long gone and one might say replaced with indifference. With this piece of work, my hope is to re-open the conversation about the heavily debated topic of the refugee: How do you relate to the trauma of people fleeing war? How do you as a mass media consumer relate to the overload of images depicting the influx of refugees into Europe? How do you relate to people when their identity is distorted? What does the distortion of identity mean for your entitlement to human rights? Forgetting the Refugee is a re-work of my archival images from this period. By re-photographing my digital images with an analog camera, and violating the film negatives by distorting the identity of the refugees on the images. Finally, the analog negatives have been scanned and made into new digital files and printed on transparent tracing paper. With this act, I am seeking to re-actualize the image of the refugee by confronting the viewer’s gaze of the refugee and vice versa, with a violated and distorted version of the depicted people. #lesvos #idomeni #greece #europe #refugees #war #non-citizen #identity #rights #politics #violence #photojournalism #home #away #documentary https://www.instagram.com/p/BqJMUGfnnBc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1dos6yoy997dc

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Sneak peek from our exhibition, ‘I, THE OTHER’ opening tomorrow at 6pm. Come say hi and have a drink! Safehouse 1, 139 Copeland Road, Peckham, SE15 3SN #exhibition #peckham #safehouse #documentaryphotography #photojournalism (her: Safehouse 1 & 2)

[jesperhouborg]

Exited to exhibit my new project ‘Forgetting the Trauma. Forgetting the Refugee’ in Peckham with a group of talented photographers! Come and see our work on Thursday and Friday this week. #exhibition #peckham #london #photography (her: London, United Kingdom)

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Syrian and Afghan men are waiting for the bus on Lesbos, Greece. Waiting together with hundreds of other people, affected by violent conflicts in their home countries. #archive 13.9.2015 • • • #europe #syria #afghanistan #eu #photojournalism #photography #everyday #refugees #war #360 #lensculture #athensphotofestival #projectweareallimmigrants @jesperhouborg @asterias_starfish

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Throwback to an Afghan man in the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos during Christmas 2015. Back then men, women and children lived in small camping tents or directly under the frosty December sky. As of today, two years later, the camp is still overcrowded housing around 6,000 people (designed for 2,000), and some are still waiting for an answer for their two year old asylum request. In the piece ''Welcome to prison': winter hits in one of Greece's worst refugee camps' in the Guardian last Friday (dec. 22) the mayor of Lesbos, Spyros Galinos, describes the present conditions in the Maria Camp in this way: "I recently compared what they are doing here to Guantanamo but of course I've never been to Guantanamo. Perhaps concentration camp would be better." A volunteer on the ground, Jeremy Holloman, says: "If this is the best Europe has to offer, I'm shocked. In 2015 it was an onslaught [in terms of arrivals] and very difficult to respond to, but two years later in 2017, we should know better." --- #lesbos #lesvos #greece #2017 #moria #december #christmas #winter #newyear #europe #eu #refugees #afghan #syrian #war #photojournalism #photography #everydayrefugees #everyday #projectweareallimmigrants #360 #lensculture #athensphotofestival (her: Mória, Lesvos, Greece)

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#projectweareallimmigrants #instanbul #turkey #documentary #bw

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#ladies #turkey #weddingparty

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My last pic in #geografiskorientering. Syrian girl just arrived with her family in an overcrowded dinghy on the northern shore of #lesbos end of last summer. #thisisstillhappening #refugees #europe #eu #greece #documentary #photojournalism #projectweareallimmigrants #war #refugeeswelcome #firstboat @jesperhouborg

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My double page spread in #geografiskorientering. 'Displaced by climate change' Will this be one of the greatest challenges in the coming years? This pic was taken last Autumn on #lesbos where up to 8,000 people, many displaced by war, arrived daily on the shores of the island. #projectweareallimmigrants #refugees #climatechange #europe #eu #future #photojournalism #documentary

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[jesperhouborg]

5/9 from my #projectweareallimmigrants Being back on Lesvos made me think of these happy Lebanese guys waiting to take the ferry from Lesbos to Athens. They had all taken the dangerous journey over the sea from Turkey. Leaving their country overwhelmed by more than 1 mill Syrian refugees in the hope of something better. #europe #lebanon #lesvos #migrants #refugees #photography

[jesperhouborg]

WELFARE 7/? Hiba and Shady In their home. The Bekaa Valley in Lebanon runs along the border with Syria. A small mountain range separating the two countries. Since the civil war in Syria broke out, 100.000’s of Syrians fled across the border to the Bekaa Valley. Due to this influx of people escaping war, the region is home to a massive number of refugee settlements and residential areas with Syrian refugees. A big difference between the two countries are the welfare services such as health care, which is not free in Lebanon as opposed to Syria. #projectweareallimmigeants #bekaavalley #lebanon #syria #women #refugees #documentaryphotography #photojournalism #welfare #salamladc

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'Women Fleeing War' Hiba and her husband Shady. #women #bekaavalley #lebanon #syria #refugees #documentaryphotography #photojournalism #welfare #salamladc