Paper short abstract:

The paper details a photovoice project that emerged organically among three separate groups of Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani undocumented men in Greece. Disposability as racialised migrant workers made them take images and videos of their work and living conditions as an act of resistance.

Paper long abstract:

“This will let the people learn how we live our lives here.” These words from an undocumented Bangladeshi migrant man working in Greece sum up the impetus behind a participatory multi-media social justice photovoice project in Greece. Photovoice allows the power of the image to speak for and communicate the lived experience of community members who are otherwise silenced Over a twelve-month period, ten undocumented Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani migrant men each have used their cell phones to take photographs, record videos, and narrate their stories centred on four themes, namely, work, living conditions, leisure and family, and masculinity and manhood. They sent these images to me by using a free phone app, WhatsApp. The paper discusses the strengths and challenges of this collaborative social justice project. I outline the organic nature of its emergence as a method for the men to document their daily life as undocumented migrant workers and their masculine identity that is shaped by the intersections of their immigrant status, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and marital status with xenophobia and racism.

Through this project, images and videos allowed for a dialogue to emerge from the men’s side. The visual material also gave a unique entry point to have deeper conversations about the men’s intimate desires, concerns, and worries as much as giving a glimpse into their daily lives. Importantly, the set of images and video narratives broke commonly held stereotypes and assumptions in Greece about South Asian migrant men as misogynists, sexual deviants, and potential terrorists.