Daniel Tchetchik – DARK WATERS

Since the beginning of the "Great Migration" in the 1990s, millions of people have set out for Europe. No one knows how many have died on this perilous journey. The Mediterranean Sea, in particular, has become a graveyard for tens of thousands of often nameless victims. The fate of these people haunted photographer Daniel Tchetchik (born 1975 in Tel Aviv, Israel). His travels and research around the Mediterranean resulted in his photo book DARK WATERS, which presents a different image of the refugee crisis than we are familiar with.

The photographs are distinct in that—at least until the brief epilogue at the end of the book—we see not a single person in them: no refugees on overcrowded dinghies, no corpses floating in the sea or washed up on the beach, no rescue ships, no camps where people fished from the sea are imprisoned, awaiting their fate. Instead, Daniel Tchetchik traveled to various coastal locations in Spain, Italy, and Greece, gazing out at the Mediterranean from the supposedly safe haven of Europe. What he sees is the horror that unfolds before him, the horror that arises from the endless expanse of water and the waves crashing against the rocks. His gaze wanders over deserted beaches, abandoned coastal towns, and the fences, walls, and bunkers along the shore with which Europe is transforming itself into a fortress that appears cold, empty, and heartless.