CULTURE
“I had to explain what I was doing and that I was documenting what was happening, there were those willing to be photographed while from others it was a very straight No. And ‘No’ meant ‘No’. Having cigarettes on me was an ice breaker, I was getting through three packs of cigarettes a day. I also had a Polaroid camera with me, which meant there was instant film which I could give them to keep. I never paid any cash. When three youths asked for cash, I explained I couldn’t do that, what they wanted was money to buy food, they had nothing, so I took them to the Afghan Kitchen and bought them meals and a can of Coke each. “On Christmas Day we arrived at the camp at about 8.00 am, no one was up, most lead a nocturnal life by attempting to get on the trains and lorries at night. My start to the day was to greet the riot police who always ignored my Hello’s on arrival. On Christmas morning I wished them ‘Merry Christmas’ in French, one of them nodded and another said ‘Happy Christmas’ in English. “Muslims of course don’t celebrate Christmas and Orthodox Christians don’t celebrate it until January 7. We sat in the Afghan Kitchen for a couple of hours, photographed a few people and were invited into a shack by a group of guys from
Kuwait, all of them Bedouins. Because they are Bedouins they have no papers, which means no health care and they can’t work. They are Arabs born without any identity.
lot of Muslims do drink alcohol. What was interesting is that on Christmas Day 3,000 people attempted to storm the Tunnel but there were no ferries and no lorries and not one single person got through. “Looking back, in one sense it was all an enjoyable experience and we encountered trouble on only one occasion; in any place there is always a small minority of trouble makers. Yes, I believe we should be helping refugees who are escaping from war torn countries but then how do you differentiate between them and economic migrants? “The ‘Jungle’ will undoubtedly get bigger, it won’t go away. I think there is a real possibility of a conurbation of migrant/ refugee camps along that coast. People will continue to come. I think there is a danger that something will happen in the ‘Jungle’ with violence breaking out, Right Wing groups are already throwing petrol bombs in there.”
“We spent the afternoon with them, took along cans of lager and a five litre flagon of wine and played cards. It was a fantastic day, we got invited into so many tents, we were wary at first but it was a case of ‘please come in’ and they would make tea or coffee and just sit and chat. Contrary to belief, a
He added: “I see what I did over those two weeks as a long-term project which will form part of my final year in studying for a Master’s Degree in Photo Journalism and Documentary Photography. My next assignment is to go to Lesbos to photograph refugees arriving from war torn Syria.”
IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS AN EXHIBITION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY PHIL AT THE ‘JUNGLE’ CAN BE SEEN AT THE NOA BAKEHOUSE IN DOUGLAS. BECAUSE QUALITY MATTERS
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