Trapped in Greece

Tens of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty-stricken homelands have become stranded in Greece since the height of Europe’s refugee crisis in 2016. Moria refugee camp, on the island of Lesbos, was the largest in Europe, until it burned down in September 2020. By the summer of 2020, approximately 20,000 people were living in a camp built to accommodate 3,000. Camp residents complained of insanitary conditions and water shortages. On nearby Samos, at the end of 2019, almost 8,000 refugees were living on a former military base that had been built to hold 650. Islanders held regular protests demanding the transfer of facilities to the mainland, and camp residents protested against their living conditions. This project—shot on Samos and Lesbos, and in refugee camps around Greece—aims to explore human and social adaptability.