The Family of Migrants

The Family of Migrants presents work by 136 photographers from around the world featuring photos past and present. Well-known photos appear alongside previously unknown photos showing that migration is a constant: old and new photos, colour and black-and-white appear here side by side.

Mexico, 2023. Foto Alejandro Cegarra - Fenix

All the people in The Family of Migrants photos are on the move. They are looking for opportunities, adventure or security, a new beginning. Some have packed their bags, others didn’t have a chance to bring anything. Many are leaving family and friends behind, boarding a train, crossing a border and making a fresh start. The photos are about leaving, sorrow, love, family and hope.

Chien-Chi Chang - USA, A newly arrived immigrant eats noodles on a fire escape, 1998

USA, 1998. A newly arrived immigrant eats noodles on a fire escape. Chien-Chi Chang / Magnum Photos

China, 1996. Lovers under a blanket on the train from Guangzhou to Chengdu. Wang Fuchun_

The photo exhibition presents photos by photographers both well-known and unknown, among them Lewis Hine, Chien-Chi Chang, Abbas, Robert de Hartogh, Dorothea Lange, Eva Besnyö, Fouad Elkoury, Yasuhiro Ogawa, Emin Özmen en Ata Kandó.

Sweden, 2015. Foto Olivier Jobard - Fenix

Sweden, 2015. Cidra fled to Sweden with her uncle Ahmed and aunt Jihan. She calls her mother, who stayed behind in Syria. Olivier Jobard

United States, 1936. Florence Owens Thompson with three of her children. She travels along the California coast for farm work. Dorothea Lange_

The Family of Migrants is inspired by the iconic 1955 photo exhibition The Family of Man, shown at MoMA in New York. The Family of Man told the universal story of humanity, and The Family of Migrants does the same, but through the lens of migration.

Pakistan, 1984. A thirteen-year-old girl from Afghanistan. She fled to Pakistan after the Soviet Union bombed her village. Steve McCurry

Photo captions other images

From top to bottom:

United Kingdom, 1956. Caribbean migrants arrive at a London train station after making their journey to the UK by ship. Haywood Magee
Mexico, 2023. A man, unable to afford a smuggler, travels on atop a freight train to the United States. Alejandro Cegarra
China, 1996. Lovers under a blanket on the train from Guangzhou to Chengdu. Wang Fuchun.
United States, 1936. Florence Owens Thompson with three of her children, traveling along the California coast for farm work. They have stopped at a pea pickers' camp. Dorothea Lange.