Alieu made several attempts to leave Libya. Three times, the boat sinks in Libyan waters. On his fourth attempt, a smuggler put a gun to his head. Against his will, Alieu takes control of the boat, even though he has never driven one before. When the Coast Guard discovers the boat several hours later, Alieu feels relieved. But instead of being taken to a reception center, he is imprisoned. He will spend more than six years behind bars.
Europe wants to step up it’s fight against migrant smuggling. When a boat reaches the EU’s external borders, the authorities follow a well-established routine: who piloted the boat, who held the compass? Many people are accused of migrant smuggling on the basis of hasty declarations and with little legal support. The real reasons and context in which people took the helm are ignored. Instead of tackling organized smugglers, Europe systematically criminalizes the migrants themselves. Thousands are imprisoned. As a deterrent – and mostly wrongly. The fight against smugglers is presented as positive and necessary in political discourse. However, most of the accused are people on the move who have been smuggled themselves. Their perspective is in danger of being forgotten.
In the research-based documentary photo project The forgotten stories of the ‘Boat Driver’, a complete portrayal of the criminalization of ‚Boat Drivers‘ in Italy and Greece is created. In close cooperation with the people themselves and their lawyers, seven different fates are represented.
The multimedia project is characterized by a book and a visual collection of processed archive and documentary material, documentary photography, protocols, portrait photography, as well as drawings made by the protagonists themselves. The result is a document that denounces the European legislation that enables the systematic oppression and criminalization of people on the run. In a so-called counter-archive, a counter-narrative, prevailing representations and power relations are questioned; the accused become witnesses, politicians become defendants and state institutions become crime scenes.
Upcoming Exhibitions
17.07.2025-16.08.2025 einBuch.haus / Berlin, Germany
02.09.2025-19.09.2025 Pöge House / Leipzig, Germany
Photobook Dummy Award World Tour
03.04.-06.04.2025 PUK#20/Goethe Institut / Sofia, Bulgaria
05.05.-23.05.2025 Instituto Italiano di Fotografía / Milano, Italy
16.05.-10.06.2025 Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum / Cologne, Germany
12.05.-15.05.2025 f2 Festival / Dortmund, Germany
12.06.-22.06-2024 Fotofestiwal / Łódź, Poland
27.06.-11.07.2025 Grisart / Barcelona, Spain
01.07.-06.07.2025 Les Rencontres d’Arles / Arles, France
29.07 – 13.09.2025 Galerie Fotografic / Prague, Czech Republic
27.09. –26.10.2025 PhotoIreland / The Library Project / Dublin, Irland
13.08 – 28.08.2025 Wiesbadener Fototage / Wiesbaden, Germany
September 2025 Lovely House, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Oktober 2025 Penumbra Foundation, New York, United States
November 2025 Goethe Institute / Bangkok, Thailand
November 2025 FELIFA / Buenos Aires, Argentina
December 2025 Lumenvisum / Hong Kong, Hong Kong
January 2026 Universidad Diego Portales & Goethe Institute / Santiago, Chile
January 2026 Muntaka Projects / Goethe Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh
February 2026 Pentas Buku @ Matawaktu Foundation / Jakarta, Indonesia
Awards
2025 shortlisted at Felix Schoeller Photo Award
2025 Carles Costa student award
2025 Award for young book design
2025 CNA publishing grant
2025 shortlisted at Photobook Dummy Award
2023 VG Bildkunst project grant
Past Exhibtions
22.01.2025-02.02.2025 Galerie für Fotografie / Hannover, Germany
// This project is a cooperation between the photographers Anne Speltz and Nora Börding.
