Samuel Fordham
Samuel Fordham
Samuel Fordham
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Series: C-R92/BY
Series: C-R92/BY
Series: C-R92/BY
Due to some of the most divisive family immigration policies in the world, thousands of British families are forcibly separated by the Home Office. As a result, they must communicate with each other via ‘modern means of communication’, leading to the rise of what are now being referred to as ‘Skype Families’.
—R92/BY seeks to investigate how one maintains a relationship with a family member who has been physically and geographically removed from one’s life and is reduced to a two-dimensional image; what does it mean to take the irrefutably unique and transfer it into the infinitely replicable?
—With the possibility of the artist’s own wife facing deportation in the coming year, Fordham weaves together a personal reflection of his own experience with those of other families, using images, documents, testimonies and more to explore the hardships of detention, and the fight for family life.
Wedding Polaroid
Wedding Polaroid
Wedding Polaroid
On the 28th January 2015 I married Alexandra, known to her friends and family as Sasha.
On the 28th January 2015 I married Alexandra, known to her friends and family as Sasha.
On the 28th January 2015 I married Alexandra, known to her friends and family as Sasha.
The Immigration Rules Introduced in July 2012 Actively Drive Families Apart
The Immigration Rules Introduced in July 2012 Actively Drive Families Apart
The Immigration Rules Introduced in July 2012 Actively Drive Families Apart
For some of the millions who travel overseas, their time in another country takes on a wholly different meaning—they fall in love with the person they choose to share their life with.
For some of the millions who travel overseas, their time in another country takes on a wholly different meaning—they fall in love with the person they choose to share their life with.
For some of the millions who travel overseas, their time in another country takes on a wholly different meaning—they fall in love with the person they choose to share their life with.
He Gets Knots in His Tummy and Worries, Yeah. We Had Him at The Doctor a Few Times
He Gets Knots in His Tummy and Worries, Yeah. We Had Him at The Doctor a Few Times
He Gets Knots in His Tummy and Worries, Yeah. We Had Him at The Doctor a Few Times
“[My son] went from a bubbly little boy to very reserved in the first few months of the separation, he was angry at us both but couldn’t understand why Dad won’t want to live with him. He would go from angry kicking out to long periods of cry and thought Dad didn’t love him. They are still working at rebuilding their relationship and trust.”
“[My son] went from a bubbly little boy to very reserved in the first few months of the separation, he was angry at us both but couldn’t understand why Dad won’t want to live with him. He would go from angry kicking out to long periods of cry and thought Dad didn’t love him. They are still working at rebuilding their relationship and trust.”
“[My son] went from a bubbly little boy to very reserved in the first few months of the separation, he was angry at us both but couldn’t understand why Dad won’t want to live with him. He would go from angry kicking out to long periods of cry and thought Dad didn’t love him. They are still working at rebuilding their relationship and trust.”
I Don’t Want Her to Know Me via Skype, I Just Want to Know My Daughter Better
I Don’t Want Her to Know Me via Skype, I Just Want to Know My Daughter Better
I Don’t Want Her to Know Me via Skype, I Just Want to Know My Daughter Better
“Our five-year-old is now at a stage she realises that Skype is not a real connection as she wants me to physically hug and kiss her. So because of her disappointments, she sometimes simply refuses to come near the computer whenever I am on Skype with them. It is almost as if she is punishing me for not being there physically. This has tremendously affected my own outlook in life and constantly left me in despair.”
“Our five-year-old is now at a stage she realises that Skype is not a real connection as she wants me to physically hug and kiss her. So because of her disappointments, she sometimes simply refuses to come near the computer whenever I am on Skype with them. It is almost as if she is punishing me for not being there physically. This has tremendously affected my own outlook in life and constantly left me in despair.”
“Our five-year-old is now at a stage she realises that Skype is not a real connection as she wants me to physically hug and kiss her. So because of her disappointments, she sometimes simply refuses to come near the computer whenever I am on Skype with them. It is almost as if she is punishing me for not being there physically. This has tremendously affected my own outlook in life and constantly left me in despair.”
For One to Two Years My Daughter Had Little Real Contact With Her Father
For One to Two Years My Daughter Had Little Real Contact With Her Father
For One to Two Years My Daughter Had Little Real Contact With Her Father
“But in the nursery in Japan, they told my wife that she started to have some problems and before she was fine ... They said that she wouldn’t interact with the other children, like she used to … that she had become a little bit bad, she doesn’t interact with the other children now. And also, a bad thing, but my wife only told me after, she didn’t want to upset me, but they were doing a drawing and [crying], they were drawing pictures and my daughter drew a picture because obviously she is small, only three, the picture is just scribbled, isn’t it?, at that age, but on my daughter’s scribble she only used the black crayon. The nursery staff gave her more crayons and said ‘why don’t you use these ones, why would you use only a black one?’ And they kept saying ‘why don’t you use other colours’ but she said ‘no, only black, I only got black’…”
“But in the nursery in Japan, they told my wife that she started to have some problems and before she was fine ... They said that she wouldn’t interact with the other children, like she used to … that she had become a little bit bad, she doesn’t interact with the other children now. And also, a bad thing, but my wife only told me after, she didn’t want to upset me, but they were doing a drawing and [crying], they were drawing pictures and my daughter drew a picture because obviously she is small, only three, the picture is just scribbled, isn’t it?, at that age, but on my daughter’s scribble she only used the black crayon. The nursery staff gave her more crayons and said ‘why don’t you use these ones, why would you use only a black one?’ And they kept saying ‘why don’t you use other colours’ but she said ‘no, only black, I only got black’…”
“But in the nursery in Japan, they told my wife that she started to have some problems and before she was fine ... They said that she wouldn’t interact with the other children, like she used to … that she had become a little bit bad, she doesn’t interact with the other children now. And also, a bad thing, but my wife only told me after, she didn’t want to upset me, but they were doing a drawing and [crying], they were drawing pictures and my daughter drew a picture because obviously she is small, only three, the picture is just scribbled, isn’t it?, at that age, but on my daughter’s scribble she only used the black crayon. The nursery staff gave her more crayons and said ‘why don’t you use these ones, why would you use only a black one?’ And they kept saying ‘why don’t you use other colours’ but she said ‘no, only black, I only got black’…”
What If My Country Then Decides She Can’t Come In, Do We Meet In the Ocean?
What If My Country Then Decides She Can’t Come In, Do We Meet In the Ocean?
What If My Country Then Decides She Can’t Come In, Do We Meet In the Ocean?
“While she was sleeping an aeroplane came over our house and my daughter heard, she woke up and ran out from sleeping, ran out and she called, ‘We are here, we are here, we want to go to our dad’. When I called she cried and she said, ‘the aeroplane that you sent just came here and they did not know us, they went, please tell them that we are here waiting for you.”
“While she was sleeping an aeroplane came over our house and my daughter heard, she woke up and ran out from sleeping, ran out and she called, ‘We are here, we are here, we want to go to our dad’. When I called she cried and she said, ‘the aeroplane that you sent just came here and they did not know us, they went, please tell them that we are here waiting for you.”
“While she was sleeping an aeroplane came over our house and my daughter heard, she woke up and ran out from sleeping, ran out and she called, ‘We are here, we are here, we want to go to our dad’. When I called she cried and she said, ‘the aeroplane that you sent just came here and they did not know us, they went, please tell them that we are here waiting for you.”
My husband and I Are Separating in Part Because We Can’t Take the Stress Anymore
My husband and I Are Separating in Part Because We Can’t Take the Stress Anymore
My husband and I Are Separating in Part Because We Can’t Take the Stress Anymore
“At the moment I am utterly terrified because I feel my wife is on the brink of giving up. My head is pounding, my heart is aching with pain. Just the thought of not being with my family makes my stomach sick. I can never imagine a life without my wife and daughter because they mean the world to me. I don’t know why I am venting to you and you are a total stranger, the truth is I am scared of losing my family.”
“At the moment I am utterly terrified because I feel my wife is on the brink of giving up. My head is pounding, my heart is aching with pain. Just the thought of not being with my family makes my stomach sick. I can never imagine a life without my wife and daughter because they mean the world to me. I don’t know why I am venting to you and you are a total stranger, the truth is I am scared of losing my family.”
“At the moment I am utterly terrified because I feel my wife is on the brink of giving up. My head is pounding, my heart is aching with pain. Just the thought of not being with my family makes my stomach sick. I can never imagine a life without my wife and daughter because they mean the world to me. I don’t know why I am venting to you and you are a total stranger, the truth is I am scared of losing my family.”
My Daughter is Getting to Know Me via Skype
My Daughter is Getting to Know Me via Skype
My Daughter is Getting to Know Me via Skype
“My elder daughter...started by saying ‘ba, ba, ba’. ‘Ba’ means baba which is dad in Arabic, because I was with her. My younger daughter just started with ‘le’, which is ‘why’… Now the first word is ‘le’ in her life.”
“My elder daughter...started by saying ‘ba, ba, ba’. ‘Ba’ means baba which is dad in Arabic, because I was with her. My younger daughter just started with ‘le’, which is ‘why’… Now the first word is ‘le’ in her life.”
“My elder daughter...started by saying ‘ba, ba, ba’. ‘Ba’ means baba which is dad in Arabic, because I was with her. My younger daughter just started with ‘le’, which is ‘why’… Now the first word is ‘le’ in her life.”
I Thought I Would Sit Here and Look Out Over the Fjord for the Last Time
I Thought I Would Sit Here and Look Out Over the Fjord for the Last Time
I Thought I Would Sit Here and Look Out Over the Fjord for the Last Time
“We are not a family. Our only child does not have his father and his father never got to see his son being born.”
“We are not a family. Our only child does not have his father and his father never got to see his son being born.”
“We are not a family. Our only child does not have his father and his father never got to see his son being born.”
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