As Rebecca Solnit says: ‘the purer the water the deeper the blue.’ The colour of blue, in the faraway lands and distance, is a much more vivid and deeper blue than what is infront of us. So of course it makes sense that we long for that blue on the horizon.
But the reality is that the blue we long for, the blue of harmony, of freedom or a place of safety, is rather a dull gray once you are up close. The grayness is the lack of help from the government, the gray state of limbo and gray areas where one is refused definitive status.
‘Blue is the Colour of Longing’ is a series of polaroid emulsion lifts that document ports where people seek refuge in the UK- a focus on Hastings and Dover. Dover has been the epicentre for debate on immigration laws and the migration crisis, such as when pro-Brexit campaigned ‘Let’s take back control’, over the white cliff face, or fortifying Dover through the Immigration Removal Centre.
There are a number of charities that are working alongside the RNLI to provide aid for people released from immigration detention, who are experiencing hardship in the UK. Hastings Support Refugees is a charity that provides a humanitarian response to people seeking asylum in the UK.
Questioning the hostile work environment policy for refugees and people seeking asylum, and calling for it to end.
