[IN AMSTERDAM]
[In Amsterdam] is a conceptual photo book created for a charity event, celebrating the lives of undocumented residents in Amsterdam. The project amplifies personal stories and portraits by transforming them into a visual narrative that highlights both resilience and marginalisation. The design serves as a documentary-driven visual essay that honours identity, visibility, and presence.
Year
11.21
Scope
Conceptual Design
Timeline
4 weeks
Undocumented people in Amsterdam often remain unseen — this project is a deliberate act of visibility. It embodies dignity through design while drawing attention to narratives that are normally marginalised.
The concept took the form of a book whose proportions directly reference a passport. By mimicking the size and rounded edges of that everyday document, the design evokes ideas around identity, access, and belonging — realities the subjects of the book continuously contend with.
Each portrait is placed with careful intentionality: near the edges to reflect societal marginalisation, but paired with bold, centrally positioned names to assert presence and respect. Half of the book is printed upside down, requiring the reader to flip it at the midpoint and begin again from the opposite direction. This physical interruption mirrors the repetitive cycle of displacement and restarting that undocumented residents often experience, reinforcing the narrative through structure as much as through image and text.
