Eight refugee children: representing a global crisis with 8 portraits

The refugee crisis is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. The problem is global: and so I have submitted photographs of refugee children from 8 different ethnicities or nations, each of whom is now in one of 8 different places. A Karen in Myanmar; a North Korea in South Korea; a Syrian in Jordan; a Rohingya in Malaysia; a Kachin in Japan; a Sudanese in England; a Somali in Egypt; and a Hazara in Indonesia. This crisis is not restricted to any one race or geography. The photographs are selected in ascending age, from a newborn baby born stateless, to an 18 year old who has been denied an education whilst seeking refuge in Indonesia. Amongst people at the margins of society, children are often amongst the most marginalised - because they have the least control over their destinies. This is why I have chosen photographs of refugee children only for this submission. However these aspire to be dignified portraits: the fact that someone has been marginalised should not be confused with them being undignified or somehow wretched. Each of these kids wants to be recognised as an individual, characterised by her or his own personality and hopes, rather than by the huge misfortune of having become a refugee. These are portraits of individuals first, and of refugees second.