Landing Strip
de Kader Attia, Tarek El-Ariss, Ralph Rugoff
French Algerian artist Kader Attia has often focused his work on marginalised communities or people living on the periphery of society - whether LGBTQ, illegal immigrants, or the mentally or physically disabled. His photographic series, 'La Piste d'atterrissage' (Landing Strip) (2000-2002) offers psychologically complex and astonishingly intimate portraits of a community of transgender Algerian sex workers in Paris, many of whom were illegal immigrants. The artist developed close relationships with members of this community whilst assisting them in their efforts to gain legal residence in France, and his photographs portray the full spectrum of their existence, from precarious work lives to everyday domestic life and moments of personal happiness.
