Sometimes some pictures are so amazing. Just by being.
Today the
Scan Pix Award was announced.
Marc Femenia Nobell is a Swedish photographer - born in Mexico and raised in Mallorca - who came to Sweden as an exchange student from Barcelona. Wich is quite fascinating as such.
The five minutes long exposé of his pictures - with beautiful music from
Métro Boheme - is a MUST. I just love those pictures. So simple. Arranged yet genuine.
The introduction in Swedish reads:
After seven years of angst - Mimoza Selmonaj got a residence permit.
The hard times were over - now it was
only to adjust to a new city, a new profession and a new society.
The photos mainly expose the situation of refugees and immigrants in Sweden after the permit. Waiting for a permit for up to seven years. Seven years without longstaying plans for the future. The mental pressure of not knowing. Thinking of the past. Longing.
After all these years they are supposed to be strong enough to coop with society work family life happiness. Be integrated as Swedes. Fighting prejudice. Keeping faith. Somehow I do get a strong - for me very rare - feeling of impossibility.
This reminds me so much of my kids in Lund. Being a coordinator for kids between six and nine - immigrants from all over the world growing up in a neighborhood quite forgotten by the rest of the society. The lack of respect from the outside creating a sense of hopelessness and alienation. Together with a strong sense of we. Devastating.
