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Omer Messinger

Photojournalist
     
A Place of Irrelevance
Public Project
A Place of Irrelevance
Copyright Omer Messinger 2024
Updated Apr 2021
Location Lesvos, Greece
Topics Contemporary, Documentary, Editorial, Essays, Greece, Human Rights, Immigration, Lesvos, Migration, Photo Essay, Photography, Photojournalism, Refugees, Reportage, Reporting
What happens to a place once major coverage moves on from it?
How do we portray an aftermath that leans mostly on absence, on what is not there?

A lot was written about the Greek island of Lesvos (Lesbos), it was in the middle of attentions for it's role in the refugee crisis. I chose to arrive in the Island long after the waves of boats and people ceased to arrive at its shores. I was interested to see what happens to a place once major coverage moves on from it? once it is being forgotten. During the time of winter vacation the lack of tourists was well noticeable, there was a feeling of abandonment and alienation. Lesvos ceased to be relevant for the refugees that were left on it, for tourists and in some ways also for its Greek residents; for which dealing with the current situation is an added burden to the already very present Greek economic depression. All that the Island is currently lacking is present far stronger then what is left.
Photographically, it was important for me to portray this state of aftermath that leans mostly on absence, on what is not there.
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