ENTRY DESCRIPTION
The Journey South is a series of portraits in medium analogue format of children who have migrated from different parts of Latin America to the Chilean city of Curicó.
The instability, violence and lack of opportunities have, over the years, pushed entire families to leave behind their places of origin and look towards the North as an alternative. Nowadays there is a new reality. The tightening of the immigration laws in the United States and the rise of xenophobia in the public and political sphere, have made the popular myth of the American dream become diluted for some.
Thus, new less-known routes have begun to be considered towards the southern hemisphere of the Americas. In recent years there have been massive migrations from the Caribbean and neighbouring countries, to the south of the continent, in particular Chile.
The journey hasn’t been easy. Some of the children portrayed have rejoined their families after years of being apart from their parents, living with distant relatives. In some cases they have travelled to Chile accompanied by strangers, once their parents have, to an extent, overcome the initial instability.
The photographic series was taken in the intimacy of their homes. This is Emmeline's portrait, a 4-year-old girl who in 2017 migrated along with her mother from the city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti towards the South.
AUTHOR
Sebastián Thomas was born in Santiago of Chile in 1982. Currently he is based in Bristol, United Kingdom.
He studied Professional Audiovisual Communication at the DuocUC institute, and then studied a degree in Aesthetics and Photographic Practice at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He also made Analog Photography workshops with photographer Luis Poirot. Later he participated in the Documentary Film workshop given by the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños in Cuba.
His works currently are in analogue black and white photography, in medium format and 35mm. It focuses on people and daily life, trying to find in them the poetic and invisible.
Sebastián has shown his work in solo exhibitions in Chile and group exhibitions in Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, Germany and the UK.
He is currently working on projects between the UK, Chile and Spain.
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