Biography:
As a documentary photographer for over 25 years, my point of view has been to work slowly when it is possible. The domestic landscape of America has been my interest for the past two decades. Today I continue to work within the social documentary...
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On Malmo's waterfront, once the heart of the city's industrial base, an eye-popping 57-story apartment tower rises spectacularly, dominating the skyline.The Turning Torso is a symbol of Malmo's modern regeneration. The building, the Santiago Calatrava-designed Turning Torso, reflects the reinvention of the city from an industrial center on Sweden's Southern coast to a leader in modern architecture and environmental design.Immigrants to Malmo take evening strolls through the city but sometimes feel they are not part of the whole society there.
Lugna Gatan Youth Center in Rosengärd, Sweden. Many of the immigrant youth from Malmo connect with the California youth hip-hop gangster culture. Rosengärd, 2007
Ibrahim Smatti, a.k.a. Ibbe, is an Algerian born in Sweden, and living in Nydala, a neighborhood known to have large immigrant population in Malmo. He studied at Rosengård School, yet he doesn’t feel like he fits in with Swedish society. In Algeria he got involved in many fights and feels like he doesn’t fit in with that community either. His Stepfather was a gangster in Algeria. He returned to Sweden with much anger and got involved in fights here. He has one foot in both cultures.Ibbe walks through his neighborhood, Nydala, Sweden.
Homeboys hang out in Nydala, Sweden.Out of the town's 280,000 inhabitants, a third are foreigners and 60,000 are Muslims.Malmo is an open city and the its government sees the influx of immigrants as a resource to their society. The problem some will argue is that Sweden has welcomed too many immigrants at the same time. In 2006 Malmo took in more Iraqis seeking asylum-seekers than Germany, Spain, France and Italy combined. The Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) is a coalition of U.S. non-governmental organizations focused on refugee protection reported in 2007, that the U.S. pledged to resettle up to 7,000 Iraqi refugees in calendar year 2007. It is likely however that only 2,000 will be processed in fiscal year 2007. It is reported that 5,000 refugees a year seek asylum in Malmo, Sweden's third largest city after Stockholm and Gothenburg, though it only supposed to take in 1,500.The result is many overcrowded apartments as refugees flock to immigrant-heavy areas and some report Rosengård's unemployment rate to be
Lars Elborg, veteran school teacher for 35 years in Rosengård, works with newly arrived students to Sweden. He has been working tirelessly to integrate his students through their studies and through internships outside of the Rosengård area.
Students during class with Lars Elborg, a veteran school teacher for 35 years in Rosengård, who works with newly arrived students to Sweden. He has been working tirelessly to integrate his students through their studies and through internships outside of the Rosengård area. Rosengård, Sweden.
A woman wearing a burka walks through Rosengärd. In 2006 Malmo took in more Iraqis seeking asylum than Germany, Spain, France and Italy combined. It is reported that 5,000 refugees a year seek asylum in Malmo, Sweden's third largest city after Stockholm and Gothenburg, though it only supposed to take in 1,500. 80 percent of the Rosengård population speaks Arabic. Rosengärd, 2007.
Many of the immigrant youth from Malmo connect with the California youth hip-hop gangster culture. A half-American, half-Swedish youth (left) from Oakland, CA, who’s father is from California.