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Norwegian photographer Espen Rasmussen spent six years photographing refugees in eight countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Georgia, Norway, Syria and Yemen). In 2004 Rasmussen discovered a common theme in the stories of refugees he found himself covering in places as disparate as Chad and Serbia, and decided to follow in the footsteps of displaced people the world over. Rasmussen writes about this remarkable opening image: “I took the Janjaweed picture during a trip to Chad in 2004. I stayed in the border areas with Sudan for two weeks, documenting the lives of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in the Darfur province in Sudan. Many of them lived in huge camps, others were forced to live in dry rivers, so that they could water their livestock. I crossed the border into Darfur together with a local town leader, and after a drive of some hours, we saw a group of armed men riding towards us in the desert. We stopped and talked with them, presenting me as a reporter. After following the Janjaweed group for a few hours, I returned to Chad with a set of images. The next day we got news that the group had crossed the border into Chad and attacked a local village, burning down the houses. The Janjaweed militia is responsible for massive violence in Darfur, and is accused of being armed by the Sudanese government.” You can see the impressive results of Rasmussen’s years covering refugees in his brand new book Transit, or on Transit’s interactive online pages. In addition to the book, the Transit photos are also the subject of a current exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway.
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