Myrto Papadopoulos

PHOTOGRAPHY: A DREAM IN TRANSIT

A dream in transit: migration on the fringes of Europe.

An exploration of a migration hub in Turkey through stories of irregular migrants.

A project done with the journalist Natasha Blatsiou for the purpose of the Dorothea Lange prize 2010.

Turkey,Izmir "La Gress" has become a migration bridge to Europe and in the mind of a migrant it becomes a dream, a dream for a new life.Turkey,Izmir The window that connects migrants with the outside world.
   
(Left)Turkey, IzmirA view from above inside the hotel(Right)Turkey, Izmir The hotel manager posing in front of the camera."Everybody is involved in human trafficking. It`s only me that I am not involved"
   
(Left)Turkey, Izmir Even if the neighborhood functions on a semi-legitimate bases, daily life seems normal. Children are out on the streets with the early light of morning.(Right)Turkey, Izmir A family of Afghans heading out of the hotel. Most of the migrants, who stay in the hotel, barely go out in the neighborhood.
     
  
(Left)Turkey, Izmir A glimpse of a local coffee shop in the hub.(Right)Turkey, Izmir A group of Afghan men sitting on their beds having their dinner. Food is always shared and it can often be missing.
   
(Left)Turkey, Izmir Life in the neighborhood, begins with the early light of dawn.(Right)Turkey, IzmirAn Afghan man sitting in an empty room in the hotel. Not many migrants arrive in the hub in winter, whereas in the summer, weather conditions are better allowing for a safer passage to Europe.
   
(Left)Turkey, Izmir Inside a room an Afghan man sitting on his bed. Men and woman sleep seperately in the hotel unless they have a family. In general they mingle with people of the same origin.(Right)Turkey, Izmir The hotel often seemed like a labyrinth. Hidden doors and people would suddenly appear.
     
  
(Left)Turkey, IzmirInside the hotel an Afghan woman is praying.(Right)Turkey, Izmir The ritual before praying
   
(Left)Turkey, Izmir The translator of the hotel(Right)Turkey, Izmir The four mile boat trip that seems just a stone`s throw away, can often be fatal.
   
(Left)Turkey, Izmir An Afghan woman inflating a life vest. Rubber boats and vests are readily available in the hub.(Right)Turkey, Izmir Family pictures lying on a bed, waiting to find their identification
     
  
(Left)Turkey, Izmir An African man lying on his bed. He managed to have a short stay.(Right)Turkey, Izmir Dreaming of a better life.