PHOTOESSAY: Gangsters in Paradise: The Deportees of Tonga

Abstract

This photoessay is based around photographs taken during the making of the documentary Gangsters in Paradise: The Deportees of Tonga. As a documentary photographer with a tendency to focus on social issues and subcultures, the author was interested in documenting the lives of deportees in Tonga. Through the film, he hoped to highlight the various complexities of identity, belonging and adaptation in relation to the deportee community of Tonga.  More importantly, he wanted to start a conversation in Tonga itself regarding how this growing community can be better supported and understood by the wider Tongan public.