Fotograf Magazine

In 2014, photographer Stanislav Krupař and German journalist Wolfgang Bauer did a daring deed. Together with a group of Syrian refugees, they tried to travel undercover across the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Europe. Although they did not cross the sea because they were arrested by the Egyptian coast guard, they managed to document the journey with people smugglers, the inhuman and degrading conditions the refugees have to endure, the organized crime, and the pervasive corruption the whole thing could not work without. At the same time, they tell an immensely powerful story of human solidarity and an unbreakable desire for freedom and normal life in peace. Krupař and Bauer brought a perspective radically different from the mainstream narrative about wild hordes rushing to undermine our security. And what is remarkable about the story is that Krupař was the only photographer who managed to take photographs directly on a journey with smugglers.