The Roma Journeys

From 2000 to 2006, photographer Joakim Eskildsen and his wife, Cia Rinne, embarked on an ambitious project which would ultimately have them traveling to seven different countries to witness first-hand conditions of Roma life in the early twenty-first century. Beginning in Hungary, and making their way through India, Greece, Romania, France, Russia, and Finland, the two often stayed for lengthy periods of time as guests of Roma families, and delved deep into the worlds of their hosts. More than 300 of Eskildsen’s images from this effort were compiled into a comprehensive volume, The Roma Journeys, accompanied by Rinne’s insightful essays, offering an intimate, provocative portrayal of Roma lifeways across countries and continents.

Roma, Sinti, Calé, and other groups—often collectively referred to as Gypsies—form Europe’s largest ethnic minority. They are scattered far and wide, each group in its particular situation with its own language and culture. Over the course of history, Roma in Europe have been persecuted, expelled, enslaved, and exterminated. Many Roma today still contend with discrimination and are met with mistrust by certain population groups. Although traditionally known as nomads, Roma largely live in settled communities, but their cultural history is complicated and enigmatic.

Joakim Eskildsen was born in Copenhagen in 1971 where he trained with the Royal Court photographer Rigmor Mydtskov. In 1994, he moved to Finland to learn the craft of photographic book-making with Pentti Sammallahti at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, graduating with an MA degree in photography in 1998. His publications include Nordic Signs (1995), Bluetide (1997), iChickenMoon (1999), which was awarded Best Foreign Title of 2000 in the Photo-Eye Books & Prints Annual Awards, the portfolio al-Madina (2002) made in collaboration with Kristoffer Albrecht and Pentti Sammallahti, and The Roma Journeys (2007). Eskildsen lives and works in Berlin.

Presentation of “The Roma Journeys” at Blue Sky is sponsored by the Danish Arts Council Committee for International Visual Arts with additional support from the Scan | Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun.