“Because familiarity breeds compassion.”

The idea for this project was sown in the run up to the divisive Brexit vote in the UK, and the concurrent rise of UKIP and its anti-immigrant messaging that has become alarmingly mainstream. The demonisation of immigrants is so obviously reactionary, yet it has been adopted wholesale by every one of Britain’s major political parties, who all promise to ‘control our borders’ – as if that were the way to solve the problems they themselves created. We are being collectively gaslit into believing that the people who come to our shores, from whatever origin and by whatever means, are the ones to blame for our struggling economy and failing public services, when in fact immigration is and always has been a net contributor to the country’s purses. 

Immigration is part of the story of us – no matter who ‘we’ are. Our modern civilisation has depended upon the movement of people, along with their cultures, ideas and technologies, in order to grow, innovate and build. Immigrants are also necessarily courageous people, willing to take risks and work hard to ensure their families’ survival and prosperity. They are adventurous and strong. These are the qualities that we should welcome in our communities, especially at a time when our national birth rate is falling and we have severe labour shortages in key industries.

Over the past decade, I have collected portraits of immigrants who entrusted me with their stories. Now, in the wake of an overtly racist dog-whistling speech by a sitting UK Home Secretary, I feel the time is right to share them. A counter-narrative is urgently needed and my approach is to introduce you to a diverse group of immigrants one at a time. Some are refugees, others economic migrants, and still others may challenge your preconception of what a migrant is. But what they all have in common is their willingness to look at their situation, aspire to better and then take the difficult steps to make that happen.

Hopefully you’ll read their stories and see them as the brave and brilliant people I met. Perhaps it will inspire you to start conversations and friendships with the migrants in your own communities. Because, although the common saying is that ‘familiarity breeds contempt’, I have never found that to be true. On the contrary, it breeds compassion.