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Photobooks

Magnum Book Club: The Return

Chilli Power, Product and Publications Manager at Magnum Photos, picks up a copy of Salih Basheer's photobook, The Return, a personal exploration of loss and displacement in Sudan

Salih Basheer

Let’s take a closer look at Salih Basheer’s The Return, an exploration of displacement and loss in the midst of war.

In April 2023, Sudanese photographer Salih Basheer was visiting his family in Khartoum when Sudan plunged into civil war following a vicious struggle for power between its army and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces.

Khartoum has been emptied of its residents since the outbreak of war on April 15, 2023. Most of its residents have been displaced to safe cities in the north and east, and others outside Sudan, whi (...)

That moment marked the beginning of an ongoing war that has, so far, displaced almost 12 million people and killed close to 150,000. From this comes The Return, an exploration of what the United Nations calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

RSF soldier. Khartoum, Sudan. April 13, 2019. © Salih Basheer / Magnum Photos

The Return is a chance for Salih to speak out about what is happening in Sudan by combining the photographer’s own story with the voices of those forced to flee. Salih travelled to surrounding countries to gather portraits and testimonies of those living in exile, making it a personal project, but also a public one.

“We are from North Darfur State, Kabkabiya locality. My sister Raja and I were studying at Nyala University when the war began. The Rapid Support Forces attacked us in the student dormitory, so we (...)

"Whenever I open the map, I try to see if our house in Khartoum is damaged or still intact, but unfortunately, the map is not up to date, it still shows the old view. I can even see the cars still (...)

Though text is central to the book, the images remain predominantly uninterrupted. The landscapes and portraits are accompanied by collages, drawings, and Tippexed images, and end with an essay and the testimonies.

A man was killed by the Rapid Support Forces in a village in Al-Jazirah State. The image is a collage of screenshots of videos posted on social media. Nairobi, Kenya. September 24, 2024. © Salih Ba (...)

A screenshot from Google Maps shows a traffic jam on Al Fatihab Bridge that connects Khartoum to Omdurman. People appear to be trying to flee to their homes but the road is blocked in both directio (...)

The book aims to go beyond minimal Western coverage of Sudan, sometimes referred to as the “forgotten war,” by focusing on the human experience. It’s about the people who are living it, those who are “rebuilding their lives, their communities, and their identities in the face of a war that is not of their making.”

And, as Salih’s dedication reads, “to the people of Sudan — I hope you find peace.”