ref-u-gee /ˌrefyo͝oˈjē/ noun:
a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Despite conventions that officially define refugees and delimit the identity of others who have been forcibly displaced;
Despite mandates that define what humanitarian aid is or can be;
Actual lived experiences blur those lines and demarcations.
Beyond being a mechanism for producing pictures, photography mediates social relations.
Photography is less a thing than a phenomenon, an event wherein a civil space is created.
HERE, photography is a means for exploring meanings, expressions and practices of Canadian aid for refugees and displaced peoples abroad. What becomes apparent is the variability between the concepts of 'aid', and 'refugees' made all the more visible through the photography.
Despite mandates that define what humanitarian aid is or can be;
Actual lived experiences blur those lines and demarcations.
Beyond being a mechanism for producing pictures, photography mediates social relations.
Photography is less a thing than a phenomenon, an event wherein a civil space is created.
HERE, photography is a means for exploring meanings, expressions and practices of Canadian aid for refugees and displaced peoples abroad. What becomes apparent is the variability between the concepts of 'aid', and 'refugees' made all the more visible through the photography.
