Arrival in Rhineland-Palatinate

The photographer Herbert Piel was commissioned by the Rhineland-Palatinate development agency to document the arrival of refugees in the State. The development agency is a registered society that is financed with State funds. In his pictures, the well-known reportage photographer not only shows the arrival of the refugees, but also the work carried out by the many administrative employees and volunteer helpers. The over 20 reception facilities for asylum seekers in Rhineland-Palatinate were asked to support Piel in his work, and to give him free access to the refugees’ accommodation.

The pictures Piel took with an M (Typ 240) and an M Monochrom (Typ 246), present a reassuring image of the many thousands of people already living in the facilities: children learning and at play, relaxed-looking adults, teenagers who look into the camera with scepticism, but also hope, in their eyes. The provisional and crowded conditions of their situation are rarely in evidence, and seem only of secondary importance when considering the suffering experienced, and still visible in the eyes of some of the children.