Declaring Independence

On June 23, 2016, the British electorate voted to leave the European Union. Many declared it Britain’s ‘independence day.’ As a British citizen, granddaughter of Polish immigrants, my identity was torn away. Since then, I’m travelling through the 27 countries the UK split away from — shooting a visual essay piecing them all together.

In each EU member state, I try to deconstruct what it means to "be European" — a citizenship I no longer possess. Each individual I meet brings new perspectives on a highly mediated territory — taking up space in a conversation usually occupied by politicians and elites.

Each portrait is the result of choices with the sitter, about the image that he, she or they wanted to reflect. We are Europe, we embody it as a whole. We’re reclaiming the right to impact and record our own collective memory.

"Declaring Independence" is building an archive of the future; a topology of a rapidly-evolving social landscape.

More than 70% of the under-30s voted to remain in the EU in the Brexit referendum."Declaring Independence" is about a generation caught in between. Our independence is to reject chauvinism and isolation. As Britain turns its back on the world, we go out to embrace it. As the people in power close the doors on our neighbours, we go out to meet them.