A Distance Between | MA Photography London - Paris

A DISTANCE BETWEEN is a contemporary photographic dialogue between two groups of MA photography students based in London and Paris who are reflecting on the construction of European identity. The aim is to foster a wider debate around the implications of national identity within a European context by investigating personal stories, significant landmarks and spaces.The point of departure is the French student’s project entitled: ‘Entre’ (in between) that was created for the 2008 European month of photography. Each photographer met a European subject who left his or her country to come and live around Paris. These meetings developed into photographic commissions; each photographer being responsible for making images that represent one element, a place, or another person, close to the exiled individual. This project reflects on the ideas of exile, distance, absence, memories and nostalgia. By questioning the notion of a European becoming an exile on his own continent, they are also questioning the notion of European identity, through photography. www.entreleprojet.fr The UK students have reacted to the original project in a variety of ways. The work is both reflecting on personal stories, as well as exploring other people’s experiences by questioning accepted ideas of national identity when living abroad, personal security, political freedom and the historic authenticity of the British landscape. Inspired by their personal answers to the ideas evoked in ‘Entre’, the work produced attempts to contextualize European identity from a UK perspective. A Distance Between aims to create a platform for the photographic image as a valid vehicle to question, communicate and debate the multiple facets of European identity.Curated by Olivia McGilchrist and Julie BalaguéPebbledash Gallery  2 Leswin Place, Stoke Newington, London N16 7NJRuns October 25 – November 6, 2009Private view Saturday, October 24th, 7-10pmMA Photography London and ParisPascal Ancel, Diane Bielik, Tania Dolvers, Kate Elliott, Joanne Gane, Rab Harling, Cameron Haynes, Kelly Hill, Maxim Kelly, Gemma Land, Elisa Noguera Lopez, Jeff Metal, Olivia McGilchrist, Anna Positano, Emma Jane SpainIvan Mathie, Sophie Scher, Loïc Molon, Annabelle Lourenço, Lucille Caballero, Gabriel Coutagne, Judith Bormand, Pierre Adrien Brazzini, Nicolas Friess, William Gaye, Lauriane Thiriat, Alban Chassagne, Julie Balagué