“You can see me but I don’t exist” Newspaper
£15.00
While photographing refugees in France, Belgium, Austria, and Sweden in 2018, Alan Gignoux noticed that a recurring theme among them was the gradual erosion of self, resulting from prolonged periods of living in limbo at the fringes of society.
In the UK, people seeking asylum similarly endure extended periods of uncertainty while awaiting a response to their applications. Unable to work, they may endure poverty or destitution, poor physical and mental health, and even internment in a detention centre. If their application is rejected, they must come to terms with not only the wasted years but also the frightening prospect of being forced to return to a country that they risked all to leave. Those who remain in the UK after their asylum application has been rejected face an uncertain and insecure future, entirely dependent on the support of family, friends, and charitable organisations.
To create a visual metaphor for the corrosive impact of the asylum process on individuals, Gignoux worked with a camera obscura using a long exposure to blur the identity of the refugees whom he photographed while leaving the background in focus. Seeking to include the refugees’ voices in the project, he invited the people whom he photographed, as well as other refugees who wanted to participate, to write a creative response to the blurred portraits in writing workshops.
The portraits and writing were subsequently curated into a large format exhibition-in-a-book, which we sent out to libraries in the UK to exhibit during Refugee Week 2023.
We designed the “You can see me but I don’t exist” tabloid-size newspaper for the participants in the project to keep. We are selling the remaining copies here as a more portable alternative to the exhibition-in-a-book, which is also available to buy in our shop.
289x380mm
40 pages
Printed on 45gsm Salmon
33 colour photographs
Photographer: Alan Gignoux
Poems:
Birmingham – Abimola, Alberto, Andrea, Aster, Bethlehem, Cedric, Danawit, Dani, Emeka, Esther, Faith, Fares, Hana, Kwaku, Margaret, Massaba, Maurice, Meskrem, Mika, Samrawit, Temitayo, and Tesfay
London – Easton, Ferdus, Gabriel, Gladys, Margaret, Muhydeen, Omar, Omilola, Pham, and Vlad
Manchester – Alfredo, Aziz, Christopher, Clarence, Ediri, Farai, Gloria, Jayson, Lubna, Raya, Sonia, and Sherma
Essay: Woodren Brade
Designers: Emily Macaulay at Stanley James Press and Chloe Juno
Editors: Ambrose Musiyiwa and Jenny Christensson
Description
While photographing refugees in France, Belgium, Austria, and Sweden in 2018, Alan Gignoux noticed that a recurring theme among them was the gradual erosion of self, resulting from prolonged periods of living in limbo at the fringes of society.
In the UK, people seeking asylum similarly endure extended periods of uncertainty while awaiting a response to their applications. Unable to work, they may endure poverty or destitution, poor physical and mental health, and even internment in a detention centre. If their application is rejected, they must come to terms with not only the wasted years but also the frightening prospect of being forced to return to a country that they risked all to leave. Those who remain in the UK after their asylum application has been rejected face an uncertain and insecure future, entirely dependent on the support of family, friends, and charitable organisations.
To create a visual metaphor for the corrosive impact of the asylum process on individuals, Gignoux worked with a camera obscura using a long exposure to blur the identity of the refugees whom he photographed while leaving the background in focus. Seeking to include the refugees’ voices in the project, he invited the people whom he photographed, as well as other refugees who wanted to participate, to write a creative response to the blurred portraits in writing workshops.
The portraits and writing were subsequently curated into a large format exhibition-in-a-book, which we sent out to libraries in the UK to exhibit during Refugee Week 2023.
We designed the “You can see me but I don’t exist” tabloid-size newspaper for the participants in the project to keep. We are selling the remaining copies here as a more portable alternative to the exhibition-in-a-book, which is also available to buy in our shop.
289x380mm
40 pages
Printed on 45gsm Salmon
33 colour photographs
Photographer: Alan Gignoux
Poems:
Birmingham – Abimola, Alberto, Andrea, Aster, Bethlehem, Cedric, Danawit, Dani, Emeka, Esther, Faith, Fares, Hana, Kwaku, Margaret, Massaba, Maurice, Meskrem, Mika, Samrawit, Temitayo, and Tesfay
London – Easton, Ferdus, Gabriel, Gladys, Margaret, Muhydeen, Omar, Omilola, Pham, and Vlad
Manchester – Alfredo, Aziz, Christopher, Clarence, Ediri, Farai, Gloria, Jayson, Lubna, Raya, Sonia, and Sherma
Essay: Woodren Brade
Designers: Emily Macaulay at Stanley James Press and Chloe Juno
Editors: Ambrose Musiyiwa and Jenny Christensson
