It may not be everyone’s taste in popular music but in Poland, Disco Polo is filling the clubs, blaring out of countless sound-systems up and down the country and drawing even some of the most ambivalent revellers onto the dance floor as the night drags on. With its roots in vulgarised folk tunes pepped up with jaunty refrains, memorable (and minimal) lyrics, earworm tunes and thumping rhythms, Disco Polo contains elements of Italo Disco and Euro Disco but remains, at its core, wholly Polish.

Photo, video and editing by Piotr Malecki.

Three short films about the lives of people in the south Dublin area of west Tallaght.

Produced by Adam Patterson.

E : XILE follows the story of Dlshad Othman, a Syrian digital security expert and human rights activist hiding out in Ireland. From a small village outside Dublin, Dlshad works around the clock to ensure the safety of activists and journalists on the digital frontlines of the Syrian revolution.

Shot and edited by James Morgan.

Benny Villanova has seen things.

He is a Sicilian immigrant, a Vietnam veteran, a former sanitation worker, and most recently a “certified” garbologist. Benny scours the neighborhood, collecting what others throw away, then selling these treasures from his storefront garage. He and his friends like to hang out there, shooting the breeze and smoking marijuana.

Benny’s charismatic, irreverent, and sometimes really funny.

He is also at war with his family. Here is a man sharing a house with his wife but living as a stranger. This is a household on the edge.

“Benny [is] a good person in one sense,” says a friend and neighbor. “In another sense, he’s crazy.”

Video and Photography: Marcin Szczepanski, Markel Redondo, Bill Johnson, Rob Finch
Editor: Bill Johnson
Additional Production: Leandro Badalotti
Graphics: Joe Fuller
Producer: Eric Maierson, Rob Finch
Executive Producer: Brian Storm

With the support of Oxfam Novib, Woye Microfinance Institution empowers women in South Sudan.
Watch Grace’s success story.

Filmed by Sven Torfinn.

With the support of Oxfam Novib, Woye Microfinance Institution empowers women in South Sudan.
Watch Monica’s success story.

Filmed by Sven Torfinn.

The classic picture of a refugee camp is becoming obsolete. Refugees and displaced people move to the city in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. However, in reality, what many actually find are harsh living conditions, lack of security and poverty.

Working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO), Andrew McConnell has spent many months documenting this new reality in eight cities across four continents. Through images, refugee testimonies, and video, the resulting body of work presents a unique insight into the lives of urban refugees today and challenges the commonly held stereotypes.

In this video we meet Bambi, Congolese refugee now living in Burundi.

The classic picture of a refugee camp is becoming obsolete. Refugees and displaced people move to the city in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. However, in reality, what many actually find are harsh living conditions, lack of security and poverty.

Working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO), Andrew McConnell has spent many months documenting this new reality in eight cities across four continents. Through images, refugee testimonies, and video, the resulting body of work presents a unique insight into the lives of urban refugees today and challenges the commonly held stereotypes.

In this video we meet Mohammed, a Somali refugee now living in Nairobi, Kenya.

The classic picture of a refugee camp is becoming obsolete. Refugees and displaced people move to the city in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. However, in reality, what many actually find are harsh living conditions, lack of security and poverty.

Working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO), Andrew McConnell has spent many months documenting this new reality in eight cities across four continents. Through images, refugee testimonies, and video, the resulting body of work presents a unique insight into the lives of urban refugees today and challenges the commonly held stereotypes.

In this video we meet Nam DarBu, a refugee from Karen State, Burma, now living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The classic picture of a refugee camp is becoming obsolete. Refugees and displaced people move to the city in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. However, in reality, what many actually find are harsh living conditions, lack of security and poverty.

Working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO), Andrew McConnell has spent many months documenting this new reality in eight cities across four continents.

In this video we meet Parbat, a Bhutanese refugee of Nepali origin living in New York.

The classic picture of a refugee camp is becoming obsolete. Refugees and displaced people move to the city in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. However, in reality, what many actually find are harsh living conditions, lack of security and poverty.

Working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO), Andrew McConnell has spent many months documenting this new reality in eight cities across four continents. Through images, refugee testimonies, and video, the resulting body of work presents a unique insight into the lives of urban refugees today and challenges the commonly held stereotypes.

Here the video about Hidden Lives‘ partners.

The classic picture of a refugee camp is becoming obsolete. Refugees and displaced people move to the city in the hope of finding a sense of community, safety and economic independence. However, in reality, what many actually find are harsh living conditions, lack of security and poverty.

Working with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection department (ECHO), Andrew McConnell has spent many months documenting this new reality in eight cities across four continents. Through images, refugee testimonies, and video, the resulting body of work presents a unique insight into the lives of urban refugees today and challenges the commonly held stereotypes.

Here, the ‘Making of’ Hidden Lives.