Pascal Rossignol

LOON-PLAGE (France) – Abdul Saboor, a refugee from Afghanistan, began to photograph the lives of migrants while he traveled to Western Europe. He was determined to show the suffering of being uprooted, and then cast into the unknown.

Saboor (29 years old) said that he was forced out of Afghanistan in 2015 by Taliban insurgents and had spent the next two years trying to reach Europe. His first photographs were taken on his mobile phone, but a charity eventually gave him a digital camera.

“There wasn’t anyone to photograph or to record what was going on,” he said to Reuters. “I chose to become a witness to our journey and to show the rest of the world how hard it can be to move out of your house.

Saboor started his career as a photographer. Saboor spends a lot of time in makeshift camps located in northern France, where refugees fleeing persecution in Africa or war in their homeland often settle down to try and reach Britain.

It was here that 27 migrants died after trying to cross Channel by inflatable dinghy.

Saboor said that he knows how hard it can be to leave behind all your dreams. He was a trained mechanical engineer in Pakistan.

However, dreams are possible to be reborn.

France granted Saboor refugee status. He now splits his time between Paris and Toulouse where he teaches art at an art school and Calais working for international media houses.

A selection of Saboor’s photos were displayed at a Parisian cultural bar, where journalists and artists can present their artwork. Yael Claux, Curator of Saboor Images said that Saboor’s experience adds an uncommon empathy to his images.

Saboor plans to go back to Afghanistan’s border to capture photos of Afghan nationals starting their new journey.