Masha was unable to make a living with the little money she was earning in Belarus, so she left her small town, Bobrujsk, and came to Warsaw, Poland. Without a work permit or a valid visa, she set up business at the open-air bazaar. She learned from others how to prepare liquor at home by diluting it with water and filling brand-name bottles with the mixture. Masha supports herself in Warsaw, as well as her ex-husband Andrei and their daughter Sasha in Belarus. She dreams of buying a house in Belarus one day.


Feature / At the border / What does Masha do in Poland? by Jan Brykczyński
At the Border
At the border (2006-2007) is a photo-essay describing the illegal labour market in new European Union member states (Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia). Faced with poor economic conditions, lack of jobs and of means of support, many citizens of the former Soviet republics and other countries beyond - from South East Asia to Africa - are forced to leave their homes to seek better opportunities in the “New Europe”. The money they earn and send back home is in many cases the only source of income for their families. These migrants live and work illegally in the new EU member states, surviving in a foreign culture, on the verge of legality. They often do not see their partners and children for years. They make no plans because in their world there is no future. They live from day to day. Book design: Ania Nalecka / TBD and Rafal Milach
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
- November 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- June 2023
- September 2022
- August 2022
- May 2022
- October 2021
- September 2021
- July 2021
- May 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- September 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- April 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- November 2016
- October 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- March 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- August 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- February 2013