In my work in Jordan I spent some time in a Palestinian refugee camp – I was not thinking of a photo assignment although I tried to think of ways I could help with what skills I had. The encampment was not an unhappy place, people worked, worked hard, and contributed hugely to society. My best friend was a graphic designer I had met on a flight to Damascus earlier. But the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people is still a (growing) problem.
Recently the number of people escaping from fear, hunger or worse from Africa, South America and Europe is a growing problem. This also creates a vacuum for greed and exploitation to fill.
France does offer support and I have worked with local charities to help where I can. I am not rich and cannot give money, but I have given time and offer my time, but all I can do is teach photography. For many people, just to show you can see them is something positive, but my sort of non-digital “old fashioned” photography lessons is not wanted anymore. I have given boxes of analogue Pentax and Olympus cameras I used to teach with, I have also given films and given development and printing classes in a mobile darkroom I set up in an old truck – but often a “minder” wold tell me to step aside and that the refugee had to pay off a debt to them.
One Idea I discussed with a psychologist professor attached to the charity La Cimade was to help teenage Nigerian girls forced into prostitution by gangs. The girls were brainwashed and controlled by gangs of exploiters, there are tens of thousands of these children in the world living this way. I learnt a little about Voodoo in South America, Nigeria and Haiti – theses are mostly with a Christian background and Voodoo is endemic in these societies.
My idea was to use wetplate photography to make their image on semi-transparent black glass. This will show a reflected negative of their image on one side, but is viewed against the sun, a positive image can be seem. I give them this small token (I use the protective dark glass from welding masks) for them as an amulet or necklace – the token (totem) is only about 2x3cm – it is important that neither I, nor anyone else has looked at this totem – only the person photographed. This totem has power, they may believe and they can possibly then destroy it or protect it – but is can persuade the owner to take back control.
The recent series of crisis in the world have made it impossible for the charities to find time to work with me on this idea.
One project I have worked with recently is with some local schools where children from refugee families are taught. I go in and get them to work on an art project, usually cyanotype, and help them make images of their hands or ferns, flowers or leaves. I also take their portraits and make a cyanotype of their face on a tee-shirt. This has been very popular, but again there is no time and too much demand for help so this has had to stop for a while.
Some of the portraits of these children are haunting – many boys look ten years older than they should perhaps they have never had a childhood.
