EAT MORE CHIPS

I came to the UK in the year two-thousand to study photography with the idea that I would move somewhere else after my degree. Twenty-three years later I am still here, still trying to figure out where I belong. With London it wasn't love at first sight, it took me a little while to get used to it, but eventually the spark arrived and so I stayed. In this endless city the opportunities are also endless, the food is not as bad as I thought it would be, I convinced myself that it doesn't really rain that much and a dull, grey day gives me the best light for my photographic practice.

I guess I can now call myself a Londoner, my daughter was born a Londoner, anyone from anywhere can become a Londoner. It's the people that make the city what it is, its past, its present and its future is shaped by the people that occupy it. However, in June 2016, fifty-two percent of the British population voted to leave the European Union marking the beginning of a long period of uncertainty and historic internal division. People like me, so-called migrants/foreigners, felt betrayed and rejected. We had to ask permission to continue staying in the place that we have, with our many different cultures, contributed to for so many years. A year after the referendum my daughter was born which for me, reinforced the idea that I belonged here, nevertheless I was upset and resentful and began to detest this place creating a cloud of negativity around myself. I thought I had strong and stable roots here, instead I realised they were fragile and superficial whilst simultaneously I had never felt further away from my home back in the sunny island of Sardinia. I began to realise that apart from London the rest of the country was alien to me, that in all the years spent here I had visited so few places so I started to think about a project that could take me to every corner of the country.

'Eat More Chips' is an ongoing series which marks almost a quarter of a century living in the UK. I started this project after the departure of the UK from the European Union in 2020, it then built up momentum between lockdowns. By exploring the country in greater detail I found myself drawn to the more peculiar, decadent aspects of the cityscape/landscape and the shapes, the forms and the textures that have always been a central focus of my photographic practice. 'Eat More Chips' is not an attempt to define this country and Brexit is by no means the focus or subject of this project but instead triggered in me a chain of thought leading me on my own personal journey. Ultimately I needed to make peace with this place and once again photography was the cure for my struggle.