Neue Welt (New World)

A Photo Series by Edith Held

Who experiences current history intensively in an unbiased way? Who tells the story honestly and is authentic in their description? How can we describe what is happening in the world more vividly than through children? More than 100 children from Berlin refugee homes were portrayed for the photo project NEUE WELT. All the children tell their stories in their own words. They are about home, family, flight, a new home. The children tell of their worries, their joys, their fears and their dreams, of the unsaid or the unspeakable. The children from different countries and cultures have arrived in a NEUE WELT (New World).

The photo project of the photographer Edith Held (born 1966 in Donaueschingen/GER) was created in collaboration with Gunter Haedke, initiator of the "galerie auf zeit" since September 2014.

All portraits were photographed with a medium format camera 6x7 analog. For each child one film. Each film has 10 pictures. All portraits were taken using only natural light and are unedited. The children received a Polaroid photo as a memento. Research. Inquiries. Making appointments. Obtain the parents' permissions. Coordinate. Organize countless photo meetings. Record and transcribe interviews. Documenting. Translate. And again: research. Inquiring. Follow up. Rework. Writing down and making understandable. Mapping and making visible. Not everyone was enthusiastic, not everyone agreed, not everyone supported. NEW WORLD is a snapshot of all those children who contributed their own personal part.