Using simple black and white pictures I have attempted to re-create the devastating and, yet, often invisible effects that deportation and the threat of it have on individuals racialised as “migrants”.
The choice of monochrome shots came naturally as these people are deprived of the very essence of life. My artwork consists of four pictures that highlight different phases in the migrants’ existence, a vicious circle in which they are trapped.
Each shot represents a step. Firstly the disappearance of the individual due to fear and vulnerability; in fact, migrants often live like shadows in order to avoid deportation, but this has terrible consequences for them and can impact their loved ones as well. Then we can see the disruption caused by an imaginary police raid, where a safe space, a conviviality spot appears damaged, precious papers and belonging are scattered on the floor.
Thirdly a passport, a crucial document, is abandoned: not even citizens are safe if they are perceived as migrants; their documents, their status, and their own person are voided. In the fourth shot, the bound hands represent the criminalisation of the foreign, seeing naturally as a criminal, hence worthy of removal.
I have chosen a simple and ordinary medium to bring attention to this heartbreaking reality as I would like people to start seeing migrants as more than an empty category or a newspaper headline; they are, instead, deeply entwined in our everyday life, and we owe them more than a distract glance.
