'The most important thing' – Brian Sokol's refugee portrait series

Begun in 2012, Brian Sokol’s ongoing narrative portrait series establishes a direct connection between the emotional and practical lives of women, men and children who have fled conflicts in nearly a dozen countries. His subjects tell the events of their escapes and present what is most meaningful to them in their dislocated state. Sokol photographs his subjects against a black curtain to emphasis their individuality and prevent them from being “swallowed by the visual details of their camp.”

"The Most Important Thing" emphasizes things — a fishing net, a mattress, a cooking pot — but also the information in these people’s faces: Howard, holding the long knife looks guarded, hot; Dowla, bearing the pole across her shoulders, comes across as strong, relaxed, with a hint of a smile in her eyes; Ahmed, gripping the cane, is fierce. They are not just refugees but complicated characters navigating a life in dislocation.

Yet equally, Sokol’s project is an entry point into the current refugee crisis, whose vast scale and dizzying force render individuals as featureless victims in mass flight. The poise and assertiveness Sokol’s pictures capture, along with his subjects' stories, counter this perception. We are compelled to linger on choices and contingencies that, with a flip of history, could be ours. (Anna Van Lenten)

Currently based in Kathmandu, Sokol is an independent photographer dedicated to documenting human rights issues and humanitarian crises in conflict-affected societies. He has had solo and group exhibitions in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He is represented by Panos Pictures and is Sony's Global Imaging Ambassador.

(Photography by Brian Sokol/Panos Pictures)

"The most important thing" by Brian Sokol exhibition opening, slideshow and discussion led by Anna Van Lenten at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, are part of the ongoing Half King Photo Series in New York City. On view through Nov. 8.

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