TENERIFE. Sea rescue missions are a pinnacle humanitarian effort that continues today. Where rescue vessels, yachts, and boats carrying medical staff, doctors, psychologists, and some odd volunteers take to the bordering towns of Sicily, the Canary Islands, and Malta in search of tiny boats carrying refugees and migrants. Refugee boats leave North Africa in the hopes of being rescued, taken to safety and brought to a safer life on European shores.
For many migrants, the struggle started in 2015 with civil unrest spreading across Syria and Libya. An estimated one million people have been suspected to have crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea by boat. Since the beginning of the global pandemic in 2020, the migrant boats are not slowing down, and as border controls tighten on the coast of Italy — sea routes, as they are known by local non-government organizations from the Med to Italy, Greece, and Spain have changed. Refugees are seeking asylum by crossing the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to Gran Canaria. A vastly more dangerous and unprotected route than before, with harsh weather conditions and pirates to add.
The transit between the continents of Africa and the Middle East to Europe has always been a space for mobility and resettlement. In the past, many migrant boats would be fleeing from war, persecution, or conflict in their hometowns. The majority of refugees and migrants take off from the coasts of Libya, Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco — coming from the nations of Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Nigeria. The major port destinations, in their eyes, are Valencia, Sicily, Malta, and the Canary Islands.
We spoke to volunteers, Nathalie Suthor an investigative journalist and Thomas Nuding Managing Director of Search and Rescue for All Humans (SARAH) a non-profit sea rescue operations team and boat. The two have been on active missions to rescue refugees in both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic over the last five years. The main goal of SARAH is to build and run rescue boats, operate small medical clinics, and supply life vests to refugees.
Ahkim 19 – SOS Mediterranee – 2018 – Mediterranean Sea
To create a new conversation between the many reporters, volunteers, and rescue groups we brought on Kenny Karpov, a contemporary photographer that documented the scenes from 2014-2019 as a way to report on the issues that have fallen out of the spotlight.
In the following pages, Karpov photographs his volunteer experiences helping refugees at sea alongside snippets from our conversations with volunteers Suthor and Nuding.
Thomas Nuding, Managing Director of Search and Rescue for All Humans (SARAH):
“[Refugees] can only hope to be found by an aircraft or by another ship. It’s just a small wooden boat with one engine. Sometimes they have two engines, a bigger one, and a spare engine, but normally they only have one engine. If the engine breaks, they can only pray that they are found, otherwise, they will die.”
Wooden boat – 400 + refugees – rescue – 2016
“During the journey, different things can happen. In spring, the seawater can be at 13 to 15-celsius degrees, which is very cold. If people stay in the water for over one hour, they may get hypothermia. Also, if people stay on the boats without drinking water, their bodies can lose a massive amount of water. Moreover, some people who get seasick for very long times, will also lose a lot of water. People from the detention centers may also have knife wounds, gun wounds, psychological problems, and infectious diseases, especially COVID now.”
“I can’t forget when there was a pregnant lady on a vessel who asked me to send her to the doctor. I can’t imagine how bad the situation in their country was, that this vessel was even safer than the land in their country. I think it’s a human necessity to help these people.”
Ibrahim 17 – On board Topaz Respnder – MOAS – 2017 – Mediterranean Sea
Natalie Suthor, Investigative Journalist:
“[Rescue Boats] have seen people drowning in front of them or suffering from gun wounds. Refugees in bad situations, especially the women coming from the Libyan camps. When a person who lives in a civilized society knows about all of these problems, we want to help them. Therefore, the people at SARAH put a lot of effort into this small NGO.”
“People are coming from everywhere in Africa. Sometimes we met a guy fleeing from Pakistan, trying to go to Europe. So they are from the whole world. People are moving to try to find a place where they can earn enough money to send it back to their family or just to start a better life.”
late night celebration – Heading to Italy – SOS Mediterranee – 2017 – Mediterranean Sea
This article is from our interview feature on Nathalie Suthor and Thomas Nuding available to read in print. Get your limited edition copy here.
We interviewed Paul Fu, the Content Director of Ubisoft; a leading company in video game development. We asked who his favorite artists are today and give you the low down on their concepts of utopic and dystopic worlds.
Fu lists a diverse list of artists from all over the world; directors, composers and illustrators including Piotr Jabolonski, Denis Villeneuve and Hildur Guðnadóttir. We can see these artists’ impacts throughout the creative industry and their rise to fame ranges from being household names to emerging artists. Read on to find out more about their universes.
This excerpt is part of our ‘Rapid Fire’ series from our interview with Paul Fu. The full feature on ‘Utopian Worlds in Gaming’ will be coming out thisFall in print.
Interview by Alister Gibson
Piotr Jablonski
Tomcat Brothers, Piotr Jablonski, Digital Illustration, 2014 (Artwork Courtesy of Piotr Jablonski, via Piotr Jablonski’s behance.com)
A freelance concept artist and illustrator aka nicoponim, based in Poland. Creates chilling, dark dystopian works for an array of large game developers. From graffiti on local buildings in his youth to now boasting an impressive client list contributing to big games such as Destiny, Dishonored 2 and the Darkborn demo; Jablonski’s has worked on promotional advertisement projects and crept into in-game artworks. Jablonski’s artwork is respected around the globe with fans coming out of the woodwork on imageboard forums, and in particular, his Tomcat Brothers series that gained him somewhat of a cult following.
Johann Johannsson
Last and First Men, Johann Johannsson, Film Still, 2020 (Film Still Courtesy of Wendy Mitchell, via screendaily.com)
Johann Johannsson has become a titan of the industry over the years. The Icelandic composer has had an industrious career completing over 70 productions of which are solo albums, plays, and blockbuster films including, Prisoners, Theory of Everything, Arrival, and Sicario. Johannsson’s colossal catalog varies greatly in styles from uplifting acoustics to melancholy, dark, and searching synthetic sounds Prisoners, Sicario, and even a Blade Runner 2047 which was unused but many fans dying to hear what he conjured up for the film. His budding chemistry and frequent collaboration with soon-to-be juggernaut director Denis Villeneuve sadly have been cut short as Johannsson suddenly passed away in 2018. Last and First Men his last ever project and his directorial debut released in 2020 was a sweeping success that received critical acclaim.
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Another Icelandic composer, Hildur Gudnadottir, took the industry by storm in 2019 composing both Joker and the series Chernobyl. Both were great successes that earned her an array of awards taking in multiple Grammy awards, namely an Academy Award, an Emmy, and many others; only a Tony Award would have completed to coveted EGOT. Despite her rampant success with film scores it actually makes up a small portion of her career. Releasing over 20 projects as a musician, both solo and collaboration, Hildur has amassed a diverse fan base with her works drifting from experimental electronic to more contemporary classics. She seems to have an album for most tastes out there today. The future is very bright for Hildur, 2019 proved that her Icelandic secret is no longer a secret. David O. Russell’s new project which began filming earlier this year will feature Gudnadottir as the sole music composer; this film is shaping up to be a blockbuster based on the sheer star power with actors including Christan Bale, Margot Robbie, Chris Rock, Taylor Swift, and Robert Deniro. It should be something to look out for, or in this case, hear out for.
Denis Villeneuve
Dune, Denis Villeneuve, 2021 (Courtesy of Luke Plunkett, via Kotaku.com)
Denis Villeneuve is being touted as this generation’s Spielberg. Many deemed this would be a tough ask tackling making a sequel to the infamous cult classic Bladerunner but Villeneuve did outstanding, producing a cult classic in its own right for an entirely new generation. Villeneuve’s next big challenge was an adaptation of the Sci-Fi franchise Dune; created by author Frank Herbet in 1965. Critics predict Dune could be the next Star Wars if done right. His signature dark, even demented at times, creative shooting mixed with his captivating techniques proves to be utterly mind-melting at times, the film Enemy encapsulates this perfectly. With Dune finally released in September, after being delayed by Covid-19, we can see Villeneuve’s mettle and acknowledge that Dune really did live up to the hype.
