Dear, Brexit
(2019)
Dear, Brexit is a collaborative and socially engaged project created by British photographers: Holly Houlton and Kelly Bryan. The aim of the work is to represent the unheard opinions of European citizens, excluding those of the UK, in relation to Brexit and its possible impacts. These views were collected through personal interactions with Madrid’s local citizens and digitally; which reached a diverse European demographic. This key component of ‘Dear, Brexit’ coincides with the analogue images, that were purposefully taken on film to slow down the photographic process and allowed the artists to value their surroundings to the utmost extent.
Both aspects of the project were displayed within a photo book to coherently express the varied thoughts of their participants, in some cases, creating a stark juxtaposition against the artists’ picturesque surroundings. The opportunity to study abroad, made accessible through the artists’ being part of the EU, motivated the creation of these images. Due to the artists’ negative outlook on Brexit and their threatened EU citizenship, they hoped to create a platform in which their voices and the participants’ were expressed.