community volunteer work
One of the most extreme cases in the exhibition is the Rohingya of
Burma, a persecuted Muslim minority in the west of Burma. “For 40 years, a
million people have been denied citizenship from the homeland for their birth
and the repercussions that has had on them over the decades has been tragic,”
he said. “They don’t have freedom to travel, most of them are not recognised as
refugees, they live a hand-to-mouth existence and they really have no control
over the course of their futures,” he said. In order to gain trust, the
photographer spent hours speaking with people before taking out his camera.
“They have every right not to trust me.
They have been failed by pretty much everybody,” he said. When
they knew his intention “most people want their stories to be heard,” he said. He
hopes the photographs will help to make an invisible situation visible. “It’s
my way of living up to my end of the bargain to the people,” he said. Nowhere
People is showing at the atrium in the Department of Justice, 51 St Stephen’s
Green, Dublin from Monday to Friday from 9am-6.30pm, until July 19th; admission
is free. http://www.thestateless.com/2012/07/exhibition-records-human-experiences-of.html