From 2003 to 2005 Alan Gignoux travelled to Gaza and the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel documenting Palestinian refugees and the houses and villages that were their homes before they were forced into exile in 1948.

The resulting body of work includes portraits of Palestinian refugees of all ages shown alone or with other family members and often holding up keys to lost homes, Mandate identity cards, photographs of loved ones from whom they have been separated, and photo albums from the years before the Nakba. One elderly woman wears her wedding dress, which she had carried with her into exile in Lebanon. 

These images are paired with photographs of the sitters’ former homes and villages in what is today Israel.

The portraits and landscapes were exhibited across the Middle East and Europe under the title Homeland Lost between 2006 and 2011.  The exhibition’s presentation of Palestinian refugees alongside their former homes was a powerful reminder of the pain and suffering cau

gignouxphotos

Homland Lost - Palestine

“You can see me, but I don’t exist” combines photography by Alan Gignoux and creative writing by people seeking refuge living in Birmingham, London, and Manchester.  The project was supported by an Arts Council England National Lottery Grant.

For this body of work, Gignoux used a camera obscura to create portraits of refugees in the UK. He chose a long exposure to blur the faces and bodies of the refugees, while leaving the background in focus. This intentional blurring was intended as a metaphor for the way in which the asylum process undermines people’s identity and makes them feel invisible.

Shown here is a portrait of Mirium Turyasingura who has been waiting for a response to her asylum application for over twenty years.  Many asylum seekers in her position experience destitution, eviction, and even temporary incarceration in a detention centre.  Mirium lives in Birmingham and is one of the women who turn to the Baobab Women’s Project for advice, support, and companionship.

Proc

YOU CAN SEE ME BUT I DONT EXIST

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gignouxphotos

collection: Portraiture

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Homland Lost - Palestine

YOU CAN SEE ME BUT I DONT EXIST