Thana Faroq is a Yemeni documentary photographer
Episode 212: Thana Faroq and I spoke about her experiences as a refugee in Europe, her experiences in camps, and her relocation to Europe through the lens of her exceptional book I Don’t Recognize Me In the Shadows
Amina’s daughter Yasmeen. Markazi camp Djibouti
This is real
The war is real
My departure from Yemen is real
Leaving my family behind is real
My resettlement in the Netherlands is real
Moving from one place to another is real
My clothes that no longer hold smells familiar to me are real
My Syrian roommate who attempted to cross the Turkish border five times is real
My Kurdish roommate who sings in the shower is real
This sorrowful song she plays in the room repeatedly is real
All this noise in the world is real
The colors of the autumn Dutch landscape are beautiful and real
This cold is real
This pause for a normal life and vibrant bouquets of dreams is real
This pain here is real. -Journal entry 2017
Thana’s work examines the often desperate plight of refugees fleeing war-torn countries such as her native Yemen. As a refugee with now immigrant status in the Netherlands, Thana’s journey has been nothing short of amazing. Her work and the book created from the journey consider her own position within the experience, but also that of the other refugees that she met along the way staying in the camp in the Netherlands.
She gives first-person insight into the experience and also speaks about the journey from a position of someone who beyond simple empathy, can relate to the stories found within her book, which often comes through writing and her sensitive and solemn portraits. The writing in particular offers incredible insight into the experience. One takes away the sense of waiting in the work and though despondency is never far from such an experience, Thana manages to make the work about the strength of character needed to embark on such a journey. I wholeheartedly believe in her work and the significance of her position to peak about such subject matter. I cannot say that about everyone making work about the European refugee crisis. Please Tune in.
