documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel
For regular updates, on the ongoing MOAS_eu rescue mission in the Mediterranean, please follow twitter feeds: @floriophotonyc; @RYP_, and @moas_eu Or our floriotravels Instagram page
Photographer, Jason Florio, May 4th, 2015, presently on route to Sicily, with hundreds of migrants – including men, women, children, babies – after being involved in two rescue missions just off the coast of Libya, over the weekend:
‘I left Malta just over 24 hours ago on board the Migrant Offshore Aid Station MOAS ship, The Phoenix, and headed into the Mediterranean sea towards Libya – Within that short time the team has already rescued 469 migrants from two vessels – Its an intense experience, and rings close to home as so many of the people the team rescued (on the second boat) were from Gambia. Big Thanks to Robert Young Pelton for getting me on board. www.moas.eu ‘ JF
I can imagine the Gambians, on the second boat (rubber dinghy, in this case, holding 109 people) MOAS rescued, surprise at being greeted in Mandinka, one of their local languages, by a man in a protective, bright white (Hazmat) suit and mask, wielding a big camera (Jason Florio) – “they were happy to hear their own language, one man said” Florio told me. I truly hope it gave them a little comfort in what is clearly a harrowing, and extremely dangerous, journey which will continue way beyond being dropped off on foreign soil.
Once the Phoenix drops the rescued migrants in Sicily tomorrow morning, the crew will head back out towards Libya again, to carry on their rescue mission. Wishing them a safe onwards and, in the words of Robert Young Pelton, today: “Kudos to the crew of #MOAS and #MSF for 19 straight hours of hard work”
For a continuous updates on the progress of MOAS and their ongoing mission, follow @RYP_ and @MOAS-eu, I’ll also be updating regularly on the @floriophotoNYC account and here on the blog.
Currently basing out of West Africa, with Jason Florio
MOAS – Migrant Offshore Aid Station, based in Malta: dedicated to preventing loss of life at sea by providing assistance to migrants who find themselves in distress while crossing the Mediterranean Sea in unsafe vessels… Read more about the incredible work that MOAS do here.
Last year, the charity helped to save 3,000 migrants during a 60 day mission. Photographer, Jason Florio, flew into Malta earlier last week, in preparation to join the MOAS team, on their boat, ‘Phoenix’, which departs Malta tomorrow, Saturday 2nd May, on it’s first rescue mission of this year.
I’ll be updating the progress of the Phoenix, as and when I get news from Florio. In light of the last couple of weeks – far too many lives lost so tragically – in the Mediterranean, and the astonishing increase in migrants making the perilous crossing so far this year (‘over 10,100 in the first three months of 2015‘ UNHCR), it will be a journey worth following.
We are delighted to announce that we have been asked to extend the original closing date, 30th April, 2015, of the ‘Silafando’ exhibition, at Gaya Art Café, here in The Gambia, until the middle of May. So, for those of you who missed it, then the exhibition is open for public viewing – with the portraits, inside and outside the venue – Monday-Saturday, 12 noon-late.
‘We then realised that the tree was the only real shade in the village – of Khalaji – and (something we should have known by this point) its where the whole village congregate, to sit and chew the fat, at the end of their working day. So, along they came, a steady stream of villagers, until our camp site was surrounded by very vociferous, curious kids, and adults alike. They brought wooden benches and stools, plastic chairs and, in one particular case, a women brought her sewing, whilst another two women sat and plaited each others hair. Our team was fast becoming the free entertainment, and amusement, well into the darkness of the evening – rather like starring in our very own live reality tv show!‘ ‘A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush – 930km Africa odyssey‘ words © Helen Jones-Florio – read more about this particular shoot here.
The Alkalos – Gambian village chiefs – have been around the world and now they are back where they belong, on exhibit in The Gambia, West Africa. And, it’s with huge thanks to the curators at Athens Photo Festival (APhF:15), in Greece, where they were last exhibited – the ‘Silafando’ body of work, in 2013 – and where Florio was invited to present his work, from the last fifteen years, as a photojournalist.
We hope you can make it down to Gaya’s (Bertil Harding Highway, next to Senegambia craft market). If not, then you can view Jason Florio’s ‘Silafando’ series on his website.
The Florios – Helen & Jason
Related posts: Exhibition opening night, Gaya Art Cafe
A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush
PHOTOS TELL STORIES - documentary | filmmaking | photography | people | travel 