Child Of A Refugee

“No one leaves home, unless home is the mouth of a shark”

– Warsan Shire

Who do I want to photo?

I aim to take the portraits of children of refugees whose parents resettled in the U.K.

The word ‘children’ may lead the public to think of a younger generation; I aim to include subjects of all ages to show a historical context that the issue of refugees has unfortunate longevity and that society today has benefited from outside influences for some time.

I aim to photograph people of all ethnicities as all are equal in their requirement for help.

Why am I doing it?

I am the child of a refugee. My mother and her family fled from Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War to the USA. My grandmother was on one of the last Huey helicopters that lifted off the Saigon embassy; her escape aided by my godfather, an officer in the USMC whose multiple tours of duty of Vietnam included service in LRRPs.

I am also a child from the dying embers of an empire that has been extinguished. I was born in Hong Kong which is today, again, part of China; I was in the region on the night of the hand over, in the Foreign Correspondent’s Club, and watched HMS Britannia sail away after the Union Flag was lowered. One of my Scottish forebears, serving in the East India Company Army, helped sack Peking which led to the ceding of Hong Kong.

During my childhood my parents lived and worked in Hong Kong, China, Japan and Saudi Arabia. I didn’t call the U.K. my home until after I left University.

My background and my mixed race appearance would suggest I am not British. My background would suggest I am an immigrant, an outsider, a foreigner. Reinforcement of this is the fact I’ve learned German, French, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) and Farsi.

And yet English was my first language. I started my education in the U.K. when I was seven years old and served for seven years in the British Army attaining the rank of Captain in the Royal Artillery deploying to Iraq, Cyprus and Afghanistan (twice). Meet me, shake my hand, look me in the eye and tell me I should not call the UK my home and that I am not British.

When; timeline

To start taking portraits in Jan 2023.

So what

Involvement; do you or your company want to participate, do you know someone who may want to participate, and have your portrait taken as part of this project?

Funding; are you or your company willing to help fund and financially support this project?

If you would like to be involved, please email me at a@andybarnham.com