Pushed by several humanitarian crisis and a worsening situation in lawless Libya, the exodus towards Europe through the Mediterranean route continues during the cold winter months
February 22nd 2017, 1PM. A rubber boat in distress is spotted a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | 2018 highlights |
On February 23rd 2017, at sunrise, a young migrant rescued from a rubber boat in distress observes the sea from the Aquarius.
A group of migrants, mainly from Nigeria and Ghana, rescued from a rubber boat in distress on February 22nd 2017, photographed on board the Aquarius.
Album | 2018 highlights |
Life goes on: Fatima (20), an asylum seeker from Mali who is pregnant, is waiting for her case to be processed so she can move on from the camp in Settimo Torinese (Italy) where she is currently hosted.
Honest (39, Nigeria), here portrayed in his room in a reception centre in Bergamo (Italy), was rescued with more than other hundred migrants on a dinghy adrift in the Mediterranean sea.
I could not se outside [the dinghy] but only up because I was lying on the floor. I was praying, crying, shouting… ‘Jeeesus’! I was not myself, I was just in spirit…
“When my head calmed down [after the rescue] I looked at the sea around me and at my boat, now empty… in that moment I started crying… from that moment I believe in God!”
The Italian Red Cross ‘Fenoglio’ camp in Settimo Torinese (Italy) seen from above.
Initially meant as a temporary camp for asylum seekers waiting to be quickly redirected to more permanent accommodations, it has become a semi-permanent accommodation where asylum seekers stay for months due to the lack of other accommodations in the area.
March 3rd 2017, 2AM. After several false alarms due to scarce visibility, a wooden boat in distress is spotted by the search light of the Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
September 10th 2016. The Captain of the Aquarius chart the course of the vessel on a nautical map of Northern Africa.
Album | Troubled Waters |
March 3rd 2017, 2AM. After several false alarms due to scarce visibility, a wooden boat in distress is spotted by the search light of the Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 28th 2017. At night, the Aquarius’ Chief Mate scan the radar in search for boats in distress.
Album | Troubled Waters |
March 3rd 2017, 2AM. After several false alarms due to scarce visibility, a wooden boat in distress is spotted by the search light of the Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Three of the migrants on board were in advanced state of hypothermia.
Album | Troubled Waters |
The Aquarius’ SAR Team proceeds with the rescue of the wooden boat in distress spotted just before 2AM on March 3rd 2017 a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Sep 5th 2016. In the early morning, a rubber boat in distress is spotted by the rescue vessel Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 22nd 2017. At sunrise, a member of SOS Méditerranée’s SAR Team scan the horizon in search for boats in distress.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 22nd 2017, 1PM. A rubber boat in distress is found a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
The Aquarius’ SAR Team proceeds with the rescue of a rubber boat in distress spotted on February 22nd 2017 a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
September 11th 2016, Mediterranean Sea, a few miles off the coasts of Libya. Life jackets are distribute by the Aquarius’ SAR Team to the 120 people on board a rubber boat in distress spotted a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Sep 11th 2016. Three women on board the rescue rhib that will transfer them to the Aquarius, just after being rescued from a rubber boat in distress.
Album | Troubled Waters |
The Aquarius’ SAR Team rescues a rubber boat in distress spotted on February 22nd 2017 a few miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | Troubled Waters |
March 2nd 2017. Young men just rescued by the Aquarius’ SAR Team are on board the rhib that will take them to the Aquarius.
Album | Troubled Waters |
A rusty compass found on a rubber boat rescued on February 22nd 2017 by the Aquarius’ SAR Team.
Unlike just few months ago, smugglers don’t provide migrants with any navigations system or satellite phone for emergency calls anymore.
Abandoned to themselves at open sea, their only chance for survival is being rescued in international waters.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Sep 4th 2016, Mediterranean Sea, a few miles off the coasts of Libya, A view of the rescue vessel Aquarius, operated by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Since the beginning of its mission (February 2016) to the end of 2016 the Aquarius rescued more than 8,000 people.
Album | Troubled Waters |
September 11 2016. Migrants on board the Aquarius vessel just after the rescue operations.
Album | Troubled Waters |
A portrait of Kelvin Eguavoen (25, from Nigeria), rescued by the Aquarius’ SAR Team from a rubber boat in distress on September 11th 2016.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Sep 5th 2016. Migrants on board the rescue vessel Aquarius just after having been rescued from a rubber boat in distress.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 22nd 2017. A Médicins Sans Frontières’ nurse helps a migrant suffering from hypothermia to reach the vessel’s clinic. Moments before he was rescued from a rubber boat in distress.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 23rd 2017. A man, rescued from a rubber boat in distress the day before, is visited by Médicins Sans Frontières’ personnel inside the Aquarius’ clinic.
Many testimonies collected on board the Aquarius report of an increasing level of violence in Libya, often translating into abductions, extortions, torture, forced labour and rape inflicted to migrants prior their departure towards Europe.
Album | Troubled Waters |
On board the Aquarius, a portrait of a 17-year-old migrant from Libya who preferred to remain anonymous.
“My parents were killed for being supporters of Ghedaffi and then a militia came after me. So I fled.
I don’t care where I am going, I just want to stay alive,” he said.
Album | Troubled Waters |
On board the Aquarius, Zen, an 18-year-old Ghanaian, said that he was kidnapped after arriving in Libya and was told that he was being sold but could buy his freedom.
“To make sure I would get money from home, I was told they [the smugglers] had people in west Africa and I was put in touch with a Ghanaian woman who was their agent” he said.
Album | Troubled Waters |
A portrait of Anabel Montes Mier (29, from Spain), SOS Méditerranée’s Deputy Search And Rescue Coordinator on board the Aquarius.
“The fact that I didn’t stayed with my arms crossed watching this tragedy unfold makes me feel useful, but I can’t feel good. After rescuing people we spend two days on board with them… and when you hear their stories you can’t feel good,” she said.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Sep 13th 2016. On September 13th 2016, when land is first spotted from the rescue vessel Aquarius after 2 days of sailing, a group of young Nigerian women celebrate singing and dancing.
Album | Troubled Waters |
A young girl rescued on February 22nd 2017 from a rubber boat in distress plays with a phone on board the Aquarius.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Sep 13th 2016. Inside the so-called ‘shelter’, the area of the Aquarius reserved for women and children.
Album | Troubled Waters |
On February 23rd 2017, at sunrise, a young migrant observes the sea from the Aquarius.
Album | Troubled Waters |
September 13th 2016. Evening Muslim prayer on board the vessel Aquarius, the night before disembarkation in Italy.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 22nd 2017. Migrants squeezed togheter sleep on board the Aquarius.
Due to the low winter temperatures, the Aquarius crew provides them with orange survival bags that keep their bodies warm and sheltered from the wind.
Album | Troubled Waters |
February 24th 2017. At sunrise, a group of migrants observe the coast of Trapani, Sicily, from the Aquarius. They will disembark moments after.
Album | Troubled Waters |
A group of migrants rescued by the Aquarius’ SAR Team on February 22nd 2017, photographed the day before their disembarkation in Italy.
Album | Troubled Waters |
Dec 8th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). A salaryman reads a manga magazine during his commute on a subway train bound for central Tokyo.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 4th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). The Japan’s capital skyline from a train crossing a bridge over Tokyo bay.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 2nd 2016, Tokyo (Japan). Salarymen inside the lounge area of a business building in Marunouchi, one of Tokyo’s most exclusive business districts.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 8th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). A salaryman observe the city skyline from the top of a business building in Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s main business districts.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 2nd 2016, Tokyo (Japan). A salaryman walks under a freeway bridge in Marunouchi, one of Tokyo’s most exclusive business districts.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 14th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). Salarymen at work in an office building in Roppongi, Tokyo.
Album | The Quiet Army |
A salaryman (who preferred to remain anonymous) portrayed in front of a busy crossing in Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s main business districts.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 10th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). In a parking lot near Tokyo’s Shibuya station, a salaryman smokes a cigarette at the end of his working day.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 14th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). Daimon, one of Tokyo’s busiest business districts. During the evening rush hour, several salarymen walk under a rail bridge.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Office buildings in Daimon, one of Tokyo’s busiest business districts. The office lights are still on in the late evening.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 2nd 2016, Tokyo (Japan). Two salarymen during a smoke break inside a business building in the Kachidoki area. The illuminated Tokyo tower is in the background.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Dec 10th 2016, Tokyo (Japan). A commuters’ train leaving Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s main business districts.
With more than 35 millions inhabitants and a 1.9 trillion US$ GDP, Tokyo is the world’s most populous metropolitan area and largest urban economy. The office workers are best known in Tokyo and the rest of Japan as “salarymen”.
Album | The Quiet Army |
Tokyo skyline at night from the top of a buliding in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s main business districts.
Album | The Quiet Army |
With more than 35 millions inhabitants and a 1.9 trillion US$ GDP, Tokyo is the world’s most populous metropolitan area and largest urban economy. In its crowded streets and through its massive transportation system, a multitude of employees in dark suits commutes between the city’s suburban areas and business districts. Silent, discreet and with a strong work ethic instilled since childhood, the office workers are best known in Japan as “salarymen”. Thanks to their strict discipline and long working hours they have become one of the pillars of the country’s economy. They are Japan’s quiet army.
A salaryman reads a manga magazine during his commute on a subway train bound for central Tokyo.
On February 23rd 2017, at sunrise, a young migrant rescued from a rubber boat in distress observes the sea from the Aquarius.
Oct 2nd 2017. The day after the vote, students hold a Catalan flag in Catalunya square during a protest against the violence and brutality used by Spanish police to impede the independence referendum.
Tokyo (Japan), Dec 10th 2016. Under the neon lights of Tokyo’s Shibuya business and commercial area, numerous pedestrian cross the street during the evening rush area.
This crossing, also known as “The Scramble” is believed to be the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, with up to 2,500 people crossing it at once, 45,000 every half an hour. With more than 35 millions inhabitants, Tokyo is the world’s most populous metropolitan area.
Album | Outtakes |
Tokyo (Japan), Dec 9th 2016. At the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple in the Asakusa area, a man prays and fan incense smoke towards himself. According to the tradition, this smoke is believed to have healing powers and devotee should fan it towards the part of their body they would like to heal or improve.
Even if estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Shintoism, Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since its official introduction in 552 AD by Korean Buddhist monks. Buddhism has had a major influence on the development of Japanese society and remains an influential aspect of the culture to this day.
Album | Outtakes |
Tokyo (Japan), Dec 6th 2016. A man sits under leaves falling from the surrounding trees in the park belonging to the Meiji Shrine.
This park, located in central Tokyo, covers an area of 70 hectares covered by a forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established.
Album | Outtakes |
Tokyo (Japan), Dec 4th 2016. Three girls play with rackets at the beach in Tokyo’s Odaiba area.
Odaiba is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, it was developed since the 1990s as a major residential and leisure area. With more than 35 millions inhabitants, Tokyo is the world’s most populous metropolitan area and largest urban economy.
Album | Outtakes |
Lampedusa, August 2016. A couple jet skiing and a shipwreck with writings in Arab on the back.
Album | Lampedusa OLD |
Lampedusa, August 2016. A Virgin Mary’s statue coverd with a thermal blanket at Porto M, an alternative migration museum.
Album | Lampedusa OLD |
Lampedusa, August 2016. The Porta d’Europa (Door of Europe) monument is dedicated to the migrants who lost their lives at sea.
Album | Lampedusa OLD |
August 27th 2016. Some of the 240 migrants rescued at sea by the Italian Coast Guard disembark at Lampedusa’s harbour.
Album | Lampedusa OLD |
Lampedusa, August 27h 2016. Some of the 240 migrants rescued at sea by the Italian Coast Guard are lined up in the harbour just after the disembarkment.
Album | Lampedusa OLD |
August 27th 2016. Some of the 240 migrants rescued at sea by the Italian Coast Guard disembark at Lampedusa’s harbour.
Album | Lampedusa OLD |
The Captain of the Aquarius chart the course of the vessel on a nautical map of Northern Africa.
Album | In between |
A portrait of Anabel Montes Mier (29, from Spain), SOS Méditerranée Deputy Search And Rescue Coordinator on board the Aquarius.
Album | In between |
A rubber boat in distress is spotted in the early morning, approximately 23 miles off the coast of Libya.
Album | In between |
At sunrise, the SOS Méditerranée Deputy Search And Rescue Coordinator scan the horizon with a binocular in search for migrants boats in distress.
Album | In between |
A rubber boat in distress with 120 people on board is found approximately 23 miles north-east of Tripoli (Libya).
Album | In between |
Three women on board the rescue rhib that will transfer them to the Aquarius, just after being rescued from a rubber boat in distress.
Album | In between |
Three men on board the rescue rhib that will transfer them to the Aquarius, just after being rescued from a rubber boat in distress.
Album | In between |
A group of migrants on board the rescue rhib that will transfer them to the Aquarius.
Album | In between |
Members of the SOS Méditerranée Search and Rescue Team on board the Aquarius, as seen from a rescue rhib.
Album | In between |
A portrait of Edouard Courcelle (34, from France), member of the SOS Méditerranée Search And Rescue Team.
Album | In between |
The rescue vessel Aquarius is operated by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Album | In between |
Migrants on board the Aquarius vessel just after the rescue operations. On the September 11th 2016 operation, 252 migrants from two different rubber boats in distress were rescued. Most of them hail from Nigeria, Guinea-Conakry, Mali and Ghana.
Album | In between |
Sep 11th 2016, Mediterranean Sea. A group of migrants rescued hours before from a rubber boat in distress adrift at sea, observe the Mediterranean from the humanitarian rescue vessel Aquarius’ deck.
Album | In between |
A portrait of Ogie Frederick (42, from Nigeria), rescued by the Aquarius from a rubber boat in distress on September 11th 2016.
Album | In between |
Migrants on board the Aquarius vessel just after the rescue operations. On the September 5th 2016 operation, 142 migrants from a rubber boat in distress were rescued. Most of them hail from Ivory Coast, Mali and Guinea-Conakry.
Album | In between |
The Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) Cultural Mediator shows the map of Italy to a group of migrants on board the Aquarius.
Album | In between |
On September 13th 2016, when land is first spotted from the Aquarius after 2 days of sailing, a group of young Nigerian women celebrate singing and dancing.
Album | In between |
A portrait of Kelvin Eguavoen (25, from Nigeria), rescued by the Aquarius from a rubber boat in distress on September 11th 2016.
Album | In between |
Four women rescued by the Aquarius team on September 11th observe the sea from the vessel’s deck.
Album | In between |
A portrait of Ehanire Efosa (24, from Nigeria), rescued by the Aquarius from a rubber boat in distress on September 11th 2016.
Album | In between |
On September 12th 2016 a baby was born on board the Aquarius. His parents, Faith (in this portrait) and Otis (both from Nigeria), were rescued the day before from a rubber boat in distress. They decided to call him Newman.
Album | In between |
40 of the 142 people rescued by the Aquarius on September 5th 2016 were minors; 29 of them were unaccompanied and 4 were under 5 years old. One of them in the photo with an SOS Méditerranée Search And Rescue Team member.
Album | In between |
Evening muslim prayer on board the Aquarius, the night before disembarkation in Brindisi (Italy).
Album | In between |
Last night on board the Aquarius for the migrants rescued at sea on Sep 11th 2016. On September 14th they will disembark in Brindisi (Italy).
Album | In between |
The rescue vessel Aquarius is operated by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Album | In between (Preview) |
A rubber boat in distress with 120 people on board is found approximately 23 miles north-east of Tripoli (Libya).
Album | In between (Preview) |
Three women on board the SOS Méditerranée rescue rhib that will transfer them to the Aquarius, just after being rescued from a rubber boat in distress.
Album | In between (Preview) |
Evening muslim prayer on board the Aquarius, the night before disembarkation in Brindisi (Italy).
Album | In between (Preview) |