Photos speak of migration history

Photos speak of migration history

For  more than a century, photographs have played an important role for many migrants and their families. From the black and white photos of European emigrants marking their departure for America early in the 20th century, to today's digital photos sent back to family and friends from migrants' new homes, photos have been used to mark the journeys, and present a record of a new life. This summer, Migrant Voice has been running the 'Talking Pictures' project, bringing together migrants and Britons with an experience of migration, to explore their stories of migration through photography. The participants have come from Georgia, Italy, Eritrea, Chile, Honduras, Colombia, Spain, Palestine, Sudan, Canada and the UK and have long and varied histories of migration to the UK and abroad. Their photos tell stories of the decisions we make before departure, the journey and the arrival, our expectations and the unexpected, and how we build a home in the new country looking towards the future. An exhibition is planned for later this year. In  Bradford another exhibition opening September 2nd shows images chosen from 17,000 forgotten glass negatives found in a cellar, all taken by the Belle Vue Studio which opened in 1926. According to the BBC, the studio was an important place for the city's new immigrant communities who wanted to send pictures of their new lives in the UK back to their families. The photos in the exhibition date from 1950-1970 and are curated by Turner Price-winning artist Jeremy Deller As part of the 'Ways of Looking' photographic festival, the exhibition will be held at Bradford 1 Gallery from Friday September 2 until Sunday, 27 November 2011. For the full story  on the Bradford exhibition, please go to:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14715896. For further information about Migrant Voice's 'Talking Pictures' project, please contact anne@migrantvoice.org Photo by Sara Davidson - 'Talking Pictures'