OVER GRÆNSER. Danish Immigration Museum. DK. 2016.

I moved to Denmark from Australia in 2015 to live and work for an extended period.

The contact I had with other migrants gave me a new perspective on immigration. In particular to the troubles some experience in their home countries and in coming to a foreign country.

This also caused me to reflect on the problems my father would have experienced in 1950 when – at age 17 and after living through Nazi occupation of budapest – he fled with his parents to Australia from communist Hungary.

Moreover the exposure to other students from around the world introduced me to some great people with interesting but sometimes tragic stories. The personal stories are often forgotten or disregarded in the political debate on government immigration policies – both here and overseas.

This was the motivation behind the idea to capture some of these stories through photographs and interviews.

Across Borders/Over Grænser was an exhibition that captured new arrival migrant stories through photographs and interviews. The 17 participants were Danish language students.

The exhibition aimed to humanise immigration and provoke thought and discussion on government immigration and refugee policies. While undertaken in Denmark I believe that similar migrant experiences would be found elsewhere and that the debate on government immigration policies has common international themes and worldwide relevance.

The photo shoots and interviews were conducted inside the Danish Immigration Museum over a four week period during October and November 2015.

The artistic concept for the photographs was to capture changing facial expressions and emotions during the interviews and to remove other distractions.

The short stories extracted from the recorded interviews complement the photographs.

A woman with glasses and a patterned scarf is looking to her left with a surprised or confused expression.
A smiling man with short curly hair, wearing a striped shirt and a dark jacket, sitting against a plain background.
Black and white photo of a woman with a floral patterned headscarf, smiling softly, looking to her right, against a plain light background.
A young man with short hair looking up with a worried or anxious expression, covering his mouth with both hands.
A black and white portrait of a man in a plaid shirt, looking upward and to the left, with a serious expression.
Black and white photo of a man looking upward with a neutral expression, wearing a button-up shirt with a small bird emblem on the pocket, standing against a plain background.
Black and white photo of a young man with short dark hair and a beard, gesturing with his hand while looking upward, wearing a sweater.
A black and white photo of a young man with a beard and short hair, smiling and looking upwards, wearing a hoodie.
A woman with wavy hair looking upward, wearing a patterned jacket and a black top, against a plain white wall.
Black and white photo of a man laughing with eyes closed, head tilted back, wearing a dark button-up shirt, against a plain light background.
A woman with glasses wearing a hijab, looking thoughtfully to the side, black-and-white photo.
A black and white portrait of a young woman with long dark hair, looking upwards and to the left, wearing patterned clothing against a plain background.
Older man with long hair and wrinkled skin looking at his hand, wearing a striped shirt and a jacket with text partially visible on it, in front of a plain background.
Black and white photo of a woman with long hair tied back, wearing a dark top, sitting against a plain wall, looking to the left with a thoughtful expression.
Black and white photo of a person with short hair, striped shirt, and tattoos, looking upward.
Black and white portrait of a man looking upwards with a surprised or contemplative expression, wearing a suit and patterned shirt.
A young man with glasses and a textured sweater, smiling and looking at the camera, in a black and white portrait.