Photographers
The Lost Men of Syria at the Saatchi Gallery
PhotocriticEtcMan with striped shirt
Photojournalist Edward Jonkler’s first solo exhibition, The Lost Men of Syria, will go on display in the Education Room at the Saatchi Gallery from 19 July 2017.
Jonkler’s work examines the role of men in refugee camps and the shifting power dynamics that can often lead to acts of radicalisation and mental illness, with once patriarchal figures becoming ‘lost’. Fleeing violence and the destruction of their lives around them these men reach safety only to be trapped in a state of impermanence.
Where these once independent and responsible men previously worked and supported their families as refugees they are held in limbo, unable to look to the future. Reliant on handouts to survive, they might find themselves broken, perhaps spiralling into substance abuse, depression and, sometimes, violence. They are also increasingly vulnerable to radicalisation: a path that offers a perceived sense of purpose in the face of futility.
Travelling the refugee route, from desperate desert camps in Syria to the squatter camps and asylum centres of Europe, Jonkler gives powerful and profound commentary on the refugee crisis.
The Lost Men of Syria is in the Education Room at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, Kings Road, London, SW3 4RY. It runs from 19 July to 9 August 2017, 10:00 until 18:00 every day.
