Author Description

According to the United Nations' Plan Bleu, over the next 20 years approximately 205 million second homes will be built to accommodate 350 million tourists annually along the coasts of Turkey and Spain alone. This influx of tourism and the return of "westernized" immigrants fuels religious and political radicalization and serves as a fulcrum for major economic changes and ecological pressures. So Blue, So Blue was initiated in 2001 when Dutch photographer Ad Van Denderen photographed a group of 100 illegal immigrants landing rubber boats in southern Spain. Soaked to the skin, they ran off in the morning light. Hours later, tourists appeared on the same beach, ready to enjoy another sunny day. Since then, Van Denderen has photographed in every country that borders the Mediterranean Sea. So Blue, So Blue is his attempt to understand the immense economic, political, socio-religious and ecological changes taking place around the open space that Europe, Asia and Africa have contested and shared for centuries.