Åke Ericson: Non Grata [signed]

Award: IPA 2018, First place! A document of the Romani people of Europe and their harsh living conditions. Since 2009, Swedish photographer Åke Ericson has been documenting the everyday lives of Roma people across Europe. The resulting photographs create an honest portrait of a community ‘Non Grata’. Latin for “undesirable” or “not welcome” Ericson’s title suggests the discrimination many Roma face in daily life due to their last name or complexion. There have been many projects on the Roma population but Ericson’s project differs from the many through its scope, duration and ambition. So far, Ericson has documented the lives and struggles of the Roma people in France, Serbia, Kosovo, Romania, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland – twice the number of countries included in Josef Koudelka’s landmark photographic essay on the Roma 50 years ago. ”Non Grata” journeys from settlements such as Lunix IX outside Kosice in Eastern Slovakia to areas of Spain where Romani children attend regular school and can climb the socio-economic ladder, and Romani culture is large accepted by much of the population. Ericson attempts to show not only the reality of a displaced community but also the positivity and creativity which exists within.