THE GAME — Zélie Hallosserie

TRACES FOUND ON THE OPAL COAST

UNTITLED 1

PORTRAITS & more

ABOUT

Objects found or distributed by the organization Utopia 56.

THE GAME 2022-2025

‘The game’ is the name given by exiled people themselves to the crossing of a border. With the police always nearby and in pursuit, this terms reffers to the increasingly inventive methods they must use to evade law enforcement.

On the Opal Coast, men and women from all walks of life try to reach England in search of a dignified life. To do so, they face extreme conditions as they attempt to cross the English Channel by hiding in trucks or boarding small boats. In 2025, at least 51,249 people reached England after departing from the Opal Coast. Behind each number is a person forced to risk everything to survive.
The Game is conceived as a series of journeys back and forth between the Opal Coast and the Steenvoorde’s shelter, mirroring the uncertainty, repetition, and constant movement that define the experience of the people I met.

While the project documents the environments, waiting periods, and daily realities surrounding the game, the crossing attempts themselves remain absent from the photographs, as they constitute what I consider a photographic blind spot. They are instead evoked through written testimonies, allowing those who have experienced them to express themselves freely, without constraint, and to describe what cannot be directly shown.