Louise Amelie's documentary photo series is an artistic exploration of the global phenomenon of
migration and its many facets which are often ignored in European migration politics.
Migration has always been an integral part of human experience and will continue to be. Yet in
public discourse it is presented as an aberration while the existence of nation-state borders
is hardly ever questioned. On the globe Kyrgyzstan nestles inconspicuously next to Kazakhstan
and China but on the ground the vastness and heights of the mountains seem endless. In
contrast to the natural beauty prefabricated housing estates spring up in the capital
Bishkek. Here lives a young population that despite all the adversities of post-Soviet reality
faces the world with great confidence. In a collection of portraying texts and photographs that
foreground the individual stories the book is an expression of solidarity and empathy and
shows that migration can mean both an opportunity as well as the painful loss of a beloved
Missing Member . The artistic focus of director and photographer LOUISE AMELIE (*1991 Berlin)
is on documentary and street photography. Her series shot in the USA between 2016 and 2020
have been exhibited internationally and have been awarded the German Photo Book Prize and the
Belfast Photo Festival. Since 2021 she has been exploring the theme of post-Soviet identity
and migration in Central Asia spending two and a half months in Kyrgyzstan for this project.
