A visual exploration on themes of displacement, prejudice, & media ethics.
Mass Exodus’ is a publication documenting the unfair stigmatisation, stereotyping, and misrepresentation in the media of the refugees who fled from Mariel Bay, Cuba, to Florida in 1980.
The tone of the book focuses on the anxieties and desperation of refugees who have been uprooted, displaced, and isolated. Loneliness is emphasised using blank space, tight margins and minimal type.
The unbalanced and unfair reputation given to the 'Marielitos' is conveyed through precariously stacked type, and slightly tilted paragraphs that appear to be just about to fall off the page. The document is bi-lingual, showing the separation between the refugees, the locals, and the media.
What I enjoyed most about this project was finding the right tension between the images, type, and blank space in order to create a certain mood and feeling of displacement.