Every year thousands of people attempt the dangerous crossing from Africa’s north-west coast to the Canary Islands, pursuing the promise of a better life in Europe. Many drown or die of exposure. Seba Kurtis photographed the stark, fenced-off coastline that greets those who survive, and threw the negatives into the sea. The images that made it ashore – bleached, worn and scarred – come to life in ‘Drowned’.
A series of flood-damaged photographs rescued from the home of Kurtis’s grandmother before his family fled a financially-ruined Argentina in 2001, connect the harsh impersonal processes of the sea to the deeply emotional experience of migration, with all the risks and sacrifices such a journey entails.
A special boxed edition of ‘Drowned’, which includes an original flood-damaged Kurtis family photograph, is available, for more information please contact hello@hereontheweb.co.uk
A5 24pp with map insert
Printed by digital indigo press on uncoated recycled paper
Hand stamped title on cover page
Housed in a transparent heavy duty travel document wallet
First edition, signed by the artist
Seba Kurtis will be present for book signing, and a selection of short films related to the book will be shown.
Seba Kurtis (Argentina, 1974) grew up in Buenos Aires under a dictatorship regime. In 2001, Argentina fell under economical and political crisis, unemployment rocketed, banks restricted access to money and chaos developed in the streets. He left for Europe and remained in Spain as an illegal immigrant for over 5 years. That time became the main inspiration for his work, an exploration of the migratory experience. He now lives in the UK.
Here Press was founded by Harry Hardie, independent curator, and Ben Weaver, graphic designer, and art director of The Wire magazine.
