Daniel Castro Garcia has won the British Journal of Photography’s International Photography Award (IPA), with a series depicting migrants caught up in the European refugee crisis. He began documenting the crisis without a commission in 2015, spending weeks getting to know his subjects and interviewing nearly everyone he photographed. Working with his friend, graphic designer Thomas Saxby, and producer Jade Morris, Castro Garcia then self-published a book of the images called Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016. The limited edition of 1000 copies has now sold out. Castro Garcia's work will be exhibited at London’s TJ Boulting Gallery from 16th March - 1st April 2017, in a solo show which will also be his first major exhibition. As part of the IPA, Castro Garcia will receive a £5,000 grant from Metro Imaging to produce the show. “I think it's really important for a show like this to have zero gimmicks," he says. "Everyone has seen the life jacket installations now. I don't want to trick anyone - that's the most important thing here: this subject needs sobriety. It can't always be about emotions. The same way it can't be about facts and figures."

BJP Press Release

Daniel Castro Garcia wins BJP’s International Photography Award for Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016

Daniel Castro Garcia has won the British Journal of Photography’s International Photography Award 2017, with a series depicting migrants caught up in the European refugee crisis. His work will be exhibited at London’s TJ Boulting Gallery in March, in a solo show which will also be his first major exhibition.

Christopher Anderson, Guy Martin, Anthony Prévost and Zuza Krajewska have been selected as runners-up in the award and will have their work featured by British Journal of Photography. 

Castro Garcia began photographing the crisis without a commission in 2015, spending weeks getting to know his subjects and interviewing nearly everyone he shot. “I think that's the backbone of the work,” he says. “Going up to people and speaking to them, discussing their situation before even mentioning photography. I really have a strong belief that it's a collaboration. Without engaging with the individuals and conveying what you're trying to do with them, it's worthless.”

Working with his friend, graphic designer Thomas Saxby, and producer Jade Morris, Castro Garcia then self-published a book of the images called Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016, working on a tight six-week deadline in order to launch it before the UK’s Brexit vote. The limited edition of 1000 copies has now sold out but, rather than reprinting, Castro Garcia plans to get back out into the field and make new work.

Foreigner was published as an intervention into the frosty, anti-immigration media landscape which sprung up prior to the Brexit vote, and the IPA show will also tackle “compassion fatigue” and the way people interact with news stories in their installation. 

“I think it's about trying to present the work in a way that when people walk into the room you can go up to any photograph and engage with it and really look that person in the eye and consider: ‘What are the differences between this individual and the viewer? Are they different?'”

But most of all, he says, he wants the exhibition to be about “calm, considered thought”.  “I think it's really important for a show like this to have zero gimmicks. Everyone has seen the life jacket installations now. I don't want to trick anyone - that's the most important thing here: this subject needs sobriety. It can't always be about emotions. The same way it can't be about facts and figures."

The IPA judging panel included photographer Nadav Kander; Brett Rodgers, the director of the Photographer’s Gallery; Michael Mack, the founding director of Mack Books; Simon Bainbridge, BJP’s editorial director; Chantal Webber, founder of Webber Represents, and Hannah Watson, director of the TJ Boulting Gallery.

“The Foreigner series stood out, not only for some really strong images that often cross both documentary and artistic concepts, but because the whole project has been put together with a lot of dedication and energy and reaches out beyond the realms of photography to a very timely issue that we felt should be highlighted,” commented Watson.

Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016 will be shown at London's TJ Boulting gallery from 16th March - 1st April 2017.  As part of the IPA, Castro Garcia will receive a £5,000 grant from Metro Imaging to produce the show, and images from the project will be featured for three weeks on WeTransfer’s homepage, which will reach an audience of 80 million worldwide.

Photo: Madia, Catania, Sicily, Italy, November 2015, from the series Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015 – 2016 © Daniel Castro Garcia

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