Photographer Henk Wildschut’s work is characterized by a contemplative and often distant view on the people and situations he photographs. This adds a balance and monumental quality to his photographs that invite the viewer to further reflect on the subject. In 2005 he started a long-term projects around illegal immigration.
Despite the strength that lies beneath the way these refugees manage to make something out of their situation, their situation itself must not disappear from view. With a selection of well-known, unknown, old and new photos, Henk tells an story of this indetermination. For as long as he has been documenting the camps, there has been no significant change. The waves of migrants form a tide, but the dam walls are high.
The tent camps embody the struggle that refugees find themselves in. They are not where they wanted to be, they cannot stay, but they also cannot go back. They do not know where they will end up, nor how long it will take.
Henk’s images are multi-faceted. Beautiful, aesthetic, raw, yet also confrontational. Because we know exactly what is happening behind the image, under the surface. They are walking through the forests, but also in limbo. The areas where they spend the night are uncertain, as are their futures. Always moving, but never arriving. The man in the orange shroud has a long road ahead of him.