Photojournalist and Documentary Photographer Inés Dümig is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From her project ‘Apart Together‘. To see Inés’ gallery of projects click on any image.
Is human dignity invaluable? The world around us would seem to suggest otherwise. With this project I have tried to regain some of that lost dignity, those private moments when we feel safe enough to reveal some of ourselves. But these revelations are only fragments of a story that I want the viewers to complete for themselves. I wanted to show an insight into my subjects’ life. Coming to Europe as a refugee but never being able to settle. She reveals her inner selves but many of her feelings and emotions can be accessed only subliminally.
Sahra was born in Somalia, but left her home country when she was fourteen. After a perilous two year journey she currently lives in Munich, Germany. Her state is: Suspending of deportation. Through this project I have tried to explore aspects of her fragmented life. Coming to Europe as a refugee but never being able to settle, she tries to be part of a new world while reflecting on the people the culture that occupies it. Through her unresolved situation and all her experiences she cannot establish a fixed identity instead she has many identities. Her life is moving along uncertain patterns. Those that we are all trying to shape when we are young and discovering the people that we are. It reminds me of a mosaic or a labyrinth. Like the patterns on her fingers are a poetic symbol. As her fingerprint plays a significant role in her story, the lines can be seen in relation to her journey and the distance she traveled.
Her story is a remarkable one, but in relation to the overall situation I wanted do something that reflects the fact that her testimony is just another one lost in the countless others like hers that seen documented before. We hear so many of these stories; somehow we all know them already. In this sense, they become meaningless. I see this project as a reaction to my feelings to the medias inadequacy in dealing with these testimonies. It’s the issue of closeness and distance that play an integral role in her story. With these pictures I intend for the viewer to stand still. To pause for a moment. It is a test of our hear and now, a touch from a distance.
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By Inés Dümig
