Mimmo Paladino’s “Door of Europe” in Lampedusa

Photograph by Samuel Gratacap Chosen by Nicolas Jimenez

Before this photo, I had never imagined that we would build doors along the borders of Europe. The door should be a positive symbol, a door open to what lies outside, allowing others to be welcomed.

This door, therefore, is the door to Europe in Lampedusa, Italy. The photo was taken by Samuel Gratacap, a photographer who has been working with Le Monde on these migration issues for years, both in Libya and Europe. He sent it to my assistant’s phone while he was reporting in the field. When I saw this picture for the first time, I immediately understood the symbol it could become and which it is in reality. It’s impossible not to think of the failure of Europe when seeing this picture. In this exact spot, Europe abandoned Italy in the face of the influx of migrants and did the same to those migrants who saw the continent as a place of refuge where they could flee from war or poverty.

This single photo embodies my two fears for the Europe of today and tomorrow: to see the fear of others growing and to see us withdrawing into ourselves. We know that the rise of the extreme right in Europe is partly linked to the waves of migrants that these political parties have exploited. This abandoned open door symbolises this failure, just as it is proof that this European ideal of openness and hospitality has indeed existed.

We must hope that we are not going to go back as far as the darkest periods of our history to realise what we have lost, losing Europe along the w ay. Nicolas Jimenez is the Director of Photography of the French daily newspaper Le Monde. From 1999 to 2004 he worked for the international festival of photojournalism Visa pour l’Image. In 2005, when Le Monde decided to become a key player in the photo industry, he became national photo editor until 2008, then the head of the photo department. Le Monde is now one of the three major photojournalism publications in the Frenc h press.