Can Brexit be photographed? Six photographic projects raising critical questions about Britain’s exit from the European Union (2016-2020)

Abstract

Based on a selection of photographic projects produced between 2016 and 2020, this article examines the way British and non-British professional photographers have responded to the question of Britain’s exit from the European Union. Each of the six projects sheds light on and problematises different social, economic and ideological stakes raised by Brexit, at different moments of a political process started in 2016. Questions that concern artists’ political commitment, the role of the media and the uses of political communication during this troubled period, the fate of European residents, or the invisibilisation of regions most affected by poverty and austerity policies are some of the issues explored in the photographic projects that compose the corpus of this article. Echoes and correspondences between them help paint the portrait of a divided United Kingdom while reasserting strongly the values of inclusion, tolerance and diversity that have been damaged in this difficult period.