Jim Goldberg - Open See - 2009

Open See began as a Magnum commission for the Greek Olympiad in the summer of 2004. This project tells of the journeys of refugee and immigrant populations who travel from war torn and economically devastated countries, often leaving AIDS ravaged communities or totalitarian regimes to make new homes in Europe. Despite facing seemingly insurmountable difficulties, dreams of freedom and an indomitable will to survive are continual threads that tether migrants and refugees to their history and drive them forward toward a new life. Despite the harsh realities they endure, their stories are replete with hope and heroism.

This immigrant population, including refugees, asylum seekers, and trafficked peoples, reside in compromised living situations, often on the margins of society. Open See is a body of photographic work that documents these diverse peoples who are natives of such places as Iraq, Somalia, Congo, Ukraine, Albania, Russia, Poland, Nigeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, the Philippines, Sudan, Kenya, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Palestine, and Moldavia. While much of this project is specific to the socio-economic landscape of Greece and the plight of refugees who make Greece their new homeland, it speaks to larger issues and raises questions about racism and cultural persecution across the globe.