DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

The Power Of Faces: Looking at the global refugee crisis

Aug 10, 2017 by Huang+Menders Photography 3 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

The United Nations has called the global refugee crisis the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. According to the UN, 65 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution. Sixty. Five. Million. People.

Numbers that gigantic can be very hard for most people to visualize or understand. Husband and wife photo team Daniel Farber Huang and Theresa Menders remind us those numbers are human lives – men, women, and children – and not just statistics.

“We have a very hard time comprehending what a massive scale of humanity 65 million people even means. And if we can’t comprehend it, how can we work to help solve it?”, said Huang. For Huang and Menders, they start one face at a time.

The duo recently returned to Chios Island in Greece to continue documenting the struggle of refugees. Chios is one of the closest Greek islands to the Turkish coast and has been one of the hotspots for refugee boat landings from Turkey. They documented conditions during the bitter winter earlier this year. Now the refugees are living in the blistering heat of summer in the Souda and Vial refugee camps on the island.

Huang and Menders realized that most everyone had lost their treasured family photos when they fled their homelands, and the two wanted to give something back this trip.

According to Menders, “Having a printed photo of family or friends is a special thing to hold in your hands and can be a great comfort in times of need. We gave people framed portraits for them to keep. We intentionally cropped out the context of the refugee camp to focus on the individuals, not their label as merely ‘refugee’.”

Heading to the camps, they brought several portable photo printers, their favorite orange backdrop and a couple hundred pounds of gear, printer paper, ink and folio frames.

Many people asked to take their portraits against the backdrop of the Aegean Sea, the very body of water they risked their lives crossing to reach Greece.

“Our goal is simple. We show people with courage, beauty, dignity and grace,” said Menders. “The enthusiasm to this portrait project was incredible. So many people were genuinely appreciative to receive proper pictures of their loved ones and friends.”

After several days taking photos in their makeshift outdoor studios, Huang and Menders were able to provide a total of 1,500 printed portraits to the residents.

Even though Huang and Menders have extensive experience doing remote fieldwork on projects around the world, having to print hundreds of portraits at the refugee camps presented new technical challenges for the team.

They and their team of volunteers worked for days outside with temperatures up to 100 degrees, baking their printers and gear. Constant winds deposited layers of dust deep into cameras, printers, and eyes, all the while trying to take proper portraits worth keeping.

Beyond the technical issues, it turns out the most challenging aspect was maintaining an orderly and enjoyable process for the many people who wanted to have their portraits taken. This was accomplished with extensive advance planning, instructions and ample signage printed in English, Arabic and Farsi explaining the purpose of the portrait project, and a simple “take a number” system to manage the heavy and excited flow of crowds.

Huang and Menders plan to continue this portrait project by going to other refugee camps around the world and providing more portraits to more people.

Check out more of Daniel Farber Huang and Theresa Menders’ work on Instagram at @huangmendersphoto

TAP Packaging Solutions supported the portrait project by donating photo folios to display and protect everybody’s prints, and Op/Tech USA provided the team support with protective gear and travel accessories for cameras and equipment.

Check out more of Daniel Farber Huang and Theresa Menders’ work on Instagram at @huangmendersphoto

About the Author

Daniel Farber Huang collaborates with Theresa Menders on numerous documentary photography projects. They have been collaborating successfully over the past 20 years, and Huang+Menders’ documentary photos are included in the permanent collections of numerous fine art museums and historic institutions across the US. You can see more of their work on their website. Also, follow them on Instagram, Flickr and Twitter, and like their Facebook page. This article was also published here and shared with permission.

 

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Sony establishes $100 million global relief fund for those affected by the coronavirus crisis I was in a refugee camp with my cameras when Trump shut the borders. Here’s what I saw High Power Posing vs. Low Power Posing – How body language influences your pictures How I shot portraits of syrian refugee children on The Impossible Project film

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Daniel Farber Huang, documentary photography, Huang+Menders Photography, refugees, Theresa Menders

Guest Author: from diyphotography.net

About Guest Author

We love it when our readers get in touch with us to share their stories. This article was contributed to DIYP by a member of our community. If you would like to contribute an article, please contact us here.

« This is how you respond to clients who say you’re too expensive
How to make a cheap, but stylish DIY shoulder rig out of wood »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • This year’s Nature TTL POTY winner puts global warming right in our faces
  • TTArtisan announces super-low-budget 500mm f/6.3 super telephoto lens
  • NASA reveals five photos of space objects invisible to human eye
  • Tamron’s 17-50mm f/4 Di III VXD lens ships in October
  • Facebook now lets you (legally) have multiple profiles

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy