Provisional Life by Rannveig Einarsdóttir

Provisional Life is a photobook about people who had to flee their homeland and live in a refugee home in Germany. The pictures are taken over a period of three years and are portraits of the inhabitants, photographs of their daily life and the rooms they lived in. The living space allocated to an individual or family is limited and the furniture is standardized. To be able to feel at home the inhabitants are creative in arranging their surroundings to utilize the space well and to add colour, which they are used to from their home country. Being a refugee and living in a refugee home puts limitations on the daily life, which is determined by regulations and characterized by endlessly waiting and hoping for a residence permit. The pictures show how this influences the activities and dispositions of the adults, but it has less impact on the children. Media reports often talk about refugees as a homogenous group of people, which they are not. What they share is that they took a decision to go on a journey in search of safety and a better life and that demands courage and strength.