Yasemin Elci

“Women on the Move” Photoville Festival NYC, 2021

Featuring: Amrita Chandradas, Danielle Villasana, Ksenia Kuleshova, Miora Rajaonary, Mridula Amin, Nichole Sobecki, Saiyna Bashir, and Thana Faroq

A team of eight women photographers from The Everyday Projects highlights how modern migration is impacting women worldwide in a project published this year in National Geographic Magazine. While the United Nations estimates more than one billion people today are migrating across international borders, women in particular are disproportionately affected by the major issues facing our world and are on the go more than ever.

From Singapore and Honduras to South Africa and Yemen, these stories spanning nearly 15 communities around the globe show the massive scope of how social, economic, political, and climate issues (among many others) are pushing and pulling women from their homes.

According to UN Women, many of women’s specific needs as migrants and refugees aren’t being properly met by policy makers. This is alarming considering about half the world’s refugees are women and girls, women in displaced situations outnumber men, and their hardships often worsen over time.

At a time when immigration policies worldwide are becoming more stringent and borders are closing, this project shows a comprehensive view of how women are caught in the web of migration—and how many are resilient despite these circumstances, which are out of their control.

With support from National Geographic Society, “Women on the Move” was published in National Geographic’s 2021 February print issue and online, written by journalist Aurora Almendral. The Pulitzer Center created curricular resources as a companion guide to this project. 

This project was photographed by eight women photographers from The Everyday Projects, the majority of whom worked in their own communities and who are women of color. They are: Amrita Chandradas, Danielle Villasana, Ksenia Kuleshova, Miora Rajaonary, Mridula Amin, Nichole Sobecki, Saiyna Bashir, and Thana Faroq.

Collectively, these photographers have had their work featured in National Geographic, the New York Times, the Wall Street JournalBloombergForeign PolicyTIME Magazine, the Guardian, and Le Monde, among others. They have been recognized with awards, such as the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights prize, Magnum Foundation’s Inge Morath Award, the W. Eugene Smith Student Grant, Pictures of the Year International, the Invisible Photographer Asia Awards, the Magenta Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation Fellowship Grant and Exhibition. They have been fellows with National Geographic Society, the International Women’s Media Foundation, GroundTruth, the European Journalism Centre, and Magnum Foundation. They have been exhibited at Photoville, the United Nations Headquarters, Obscura Festival of Photography, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. They have been selected participants of the Eddie Adams Workshop, the New York Times Portfolio Review, and World Press Photo’s Joop Swart Masterclass and East Africa Masterclass. And, they are members of photo collectives such as the Authority Collective, Ayün Fotógrafas, Diversify Photo, Oculi, VII, and Women Photograph.