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50/50 Exhibition – The 50 Selected Cartoons

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The 50/50 Project: Celebrating 50 Years of the British Cartoon Archive

In October 2023 we launched our new co-curated exhibition highlighting 50 cartoons representing 50 years of the British Cartoon Archive. The cartoons were selected and researched by a fabulous team of volunteers and we are extremely grateful to them for their participation in this project. So thank you to Angel Robson, Dr Balasubramanyam Chandramohan, Cameron Matthews, Elizabeth Grimshaw, Hannah Robson, Irene Szmelter, Nadia Davies, and Peter McCullen! 

The full list of the selected cartoons can be found here in this blog – but do remember to come and see the exhibition in person between October 2023 and February 2024!

The 50 cartoons selected represent the vast breadth of artists, subjects and formats found in the British Cartoon Archive. Together they provide a fascinating introduction to the history of cartooning and tell the stories of political events and people discovered by the volunteers throughout their research.  

Themes that emerged in the volunteer research included the history of cartoons, the beginnings of satire, the space race, political events and crises, strikes, the commonwealth, and the cartoons of Carl Giles.

Introduction Panels – Cartoons selected by the British Cartoon Archive staff 

  1. “Cartoon No 1: Substance and Shadow”, Punch, Or, The London Charivari, 1843. Reference: Punch, 15th July 1843

    Cartoon titled Cartoon No 1 Substance and Shadow showing a scene in an art gallery where a group of poor and ragged children and adults are looking at the opulent artworks on the walls which show portraits of people in more wealthy clothing

    Substance and Shadow, Cartoon No. 1, Punch Magazine, 15th July 1843.

  2. Rendezvous, David Low, Evening Standard, 20 September 1939. Reference: LSE2692

 

Satirical Ceramics in Late Georgian Britain and beyond ;The Emergence of Satirical Print; Historians start to take cartoons seriously

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Irene Szmelter:

  1. Pink jug with transfer-prints, Doctor Syntax drawing after nature; Doctor Syntax Disputing his Bill with the Landlady, c.1914-1930s. Reference: Doctor Syntax collection, [uncatalogued]  
  2. Plate with transfer-print, Doctor Syntax reading his tour, c.1920-1980s. Reference: Doctor Syntax collection, [uncatalogued]
    Ceramic plate on a plate stand showing an image of Dr Syntax, a character created by Thomas Rowlandson as a satire of William Gilpin, who was a supporter of the Picturesque movement. In the image Dr Syntax is reading his book to others in a tavern and they look bored and even asleep.

    Plate with transfer-print, Doctor Syntax reading his tour, c.1920-1980s. Reference: Dr Syntax collection, [uncatalogued]

  3. William Combe, The tour of Doctor Syntax, in search of the picturesque : a poem (5th edition, London, 1813) Reference: Derek Schartau Collection PR 3359.C5 
  4. Steve Bell, Fashionable Contrasts in Washington D.C (after James Gillray), 2017 Reference: Steve Bell Digital Collection SBD1772 
  5. Richard T. Godfrey, James Gillray: the art of caricature (London, 2001) Reference: British Cartoon Archive Library LRG NC 1479.G5 GOD
  6. Martin Rowson, The Contrast 2018 (after Thomas Rowlandson), 2018. Reference: Martin Rowson Digital Collection MRD1228 
  7. Dorothy George, English political caricature, 1793-1832 : a study of opinion and propaganda, 1959. Reference: British Cartoon Archive Library, NC 1763.P66 M 
  8. McCreery, The satirical gaze: prints of women in late eighteenth- century England, 2004. Reference: British Cartoon Archive Library NE962.W65

Strikes!

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Angel Robson:

Cartoon showing the door to Number 10, being opened by Boris Johnson holding an umbrella, with buckets of excrement balanced on the top and about to come down on his head. The buckets are labelled 'Inequality', 'Education' and 'NHS'. Keir Starmer is shown hiding just beyond the opening door and is pulling his mask down.

13: “Come on Everyone! Lockdown’s over and everything’s brilliant!” Martin Rowson Digital Collection, MRD 1634, Daily Mirror, 5th April 2021.

  1. Sidney Strube, – And we’re on our way, Daily Express, Undated. Reference: Sidney ‘George’ Strube Collection, Beaverbrook Foundation GS0070 
  2. Jonathon Pugh, “It’s not another eclipse. They’re our rubbish bags”, Daily Mail, 05 September 2017. Reference: Cuttings Collection 106199 
  3. Martin Rowson, [Lockdown’s over and everything’s brilliant], Daily Mirror, 05 April 2021. Reference: Martin Rowson Digital Collection MRD1634 
  4. Peter Brookes, Hoot if You Support Junior Doctors, The Times, 02 September 2016. Reference: Cuttings Collection 104446 
  5. Martin Rowson, [Boris tramples over workers], Daily Mirror, 08 March 2021. Reference: Martin Rowson Digital Collection MRD1622 
  6. Michael Cummings, “It’s the Silly Season and the Loch N.U.M. Monster arrives, as usual, on time!”, Sunday Express, 06 September 1987. Reference: Michael Cummings Collection, Beaverbrook Foundation CU1813 
  7. Deep Digs! Cartoons of the Miners’ Strike, (London, 1985). Reference: British Cartoon Archive Library NC 1763.S87 

 

Censorship and Saucy Postcards

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Nadia Davies: 

Typed card with a postcard stapled to it. The postcard shows a man with a large protruding stomach looking out across a beach. There is a lighthouse in the distance. There is a sandcastle on the sand in front of him, and a small boy ('Willy') sitting in a hole digging in the sand at his feet. He cannot see him over his stomach.

Postcard designed by Bob Wilkin, I wish I could see my little willy?, D E & S Ltd.

Typed card titled 'Proceedings' with hand written entries for several rows and columns. Reads - No 1 Date 3.12.52. Court Rhyl. Defendant 5. Result OD. DPP Ref 3290/52; No 2 Date 27.10.54. Court Margate. Defendant 5. Result OD. DPP Ref 3795/53; No 3 Date 27.4.54. Court Margate QS. Defendant 5. Result OD. DPP Ref 456/54; No 4 Date 15.11.57. Court Southwell. Defendant 5. Result NO. DPP Ref 3409/57.

Typed Card from the Crown Prosecution Service recording the prosecutions for obscene postcards that took place for the card on the reverse – I wish I could see my little willy. Prosecutions took place in Rhyl, Margate and Southwell.

  1. Donald McGill, A stick of rock, cock?, Constance Ltd, Undated. Reference: Crown Prosecution Service Collection CP/0363 
  2. What rosy cheeks you have my dear, Leslie Lester Ltd, Undated. Reference: Crown Prosecution Service Collection CP/0649 
  3. Have you got two big bouncy balls please?, Leslie Lester Ltd, Undated. Reference: Crown Prosecution Service Collection CP/0700 
  4. Bob Wilkin, I wish I could see my little willy?, E & S Ltd, Undated. Reference: Crown Prosecution Service Collection CP/0438  
  5. Dave Brown, Has anyone seen my little willy?, The Independent, 05 Oct 1999. Reference: Cuttings Collection 52292 

Political Events and Crises

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Hannah Robson: 

  1. Brian Adcock, “So you know the so-called “Special Relationship,” well you are gonna love this!”, The Independent, 6 November 2017. Reference: Brian Adcock Digital Collection BAD0485 
  2. Victor Weisz, “McCarthy is dead! Long live McCarthyism!”, Daily Mirror, 7 May 1957. Reference: Vicky [Victor Weisz] Collection, Beaverbrook Foundation VY0890 
  3. Michael Cummings, [no caption], Daily Express, 14 November 1986. Reference: Cuttings Collection 44500 
  4. Christian Adams, Signed in Blood, Daily Telegraph, 19 October 2015. Reference: Cuttings Collection 103278 
  5. Carl Giles, Daily Express Christmas card, c.1947. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/4/1/4/1 (GAC0098) 
Cartoon for a Christmas Card - of a newspaper seller, sitting near a London bus stop looking serious and downcast, with signs propped against a wall showing the headlines of the newspapers including: Evening Atom bomb latest Sunday Complete list of wars Daily Crime waves everywhere Sunday Taxes may be double Daily H bomb on the way Daily Merry Xmas to all our readers

Carl Giles, Daily Express Christmas card, c.1947. Reference – Carl Giles Trust Collection – CG/1/4/1/4/1 (GAC0098)

 

Viewing both England and the University of Kent through an Irish lens

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Peter McCullen: 

  1. Martin Rowson, Backwards, The Guardian, 25 May 2015. Reference: Martin Rowson Digital Collection MRD0654 
  2. Ben Jennings, [no caption], Independent, 01 March 2014. Reference: Ben Jennings Digital Collection BJD0121 
  3. Ben Jennings, [no caption], Independent, 01 March 2014. Reference: Ben Jennings Digital Collection BJD0200 
  4. Carl Giles, “Talking of cheque book journalism, do you think the editor would object to us taking that cab?”, Daily Express, 07 May 1981. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/1/3002 (GA4259)  
  5. Carl Giles, [no caption], Daily Express, 11 November 1958. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/1/3824 (GA5503) 
  6. Wally Fawkes, [no caption], Observer, 14 June 1987. Reference: Cuttings Collection 42646 
  7. Tove Jansson, Moomin and Snorkmaiden, Undated. Reference: Tove Jansson Collection TV0002 (Uncatalogued) 
Drawing of two moomins by Tove Janssen. Moomintroll is standing wearing a neck tie with moomins on it, facing Snorkmaiden who is looking and pointing at the tie.

Tove Jansson, Moomin and Snorkmaiden, Undated. Reference: Tove Jansson Collection TV0002 (Uncatalogued)

 

The Space Race 

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Elizabeth Grimshaw 

28. Michael Cummings, Increase of Fares Between London – Mars –Venus – Moon, Daily Express, 27 Jan 1953. Reference: Cummings Collection CU0522

36. Scott Clissold, “Got a spare ticket for the new Star Wars movie, mate?!”, Daily Star, 16 December 2015. Reference: Scott Clissold Digital Collection CLD0549

Colour cartoon of two aliens in a space ship talking to an astronaut on a space walk outside the International Space Station. One of the aliens speaks to the astronaut and says 'Got a spare ticket for the new Star Wars Movie, Mate?!' The astronaut looks confused.

Scott Clissold, “Got a spare ticket for the new Star Wars movie, mate?!”, Daily Star, 16 December 2015. Reference: Scott Clissold Digital Collection CLD0549

37. Osbert Lancaster, “Just think, Gretchen! Halfway to the moon! One day, perhaps, science will be able to tell us how to reach West Berlin!”, Daily Express, 14 Aug 1962. Reference: Cuttings Collection 02019

38. Carl Giles, “Be funny if the Moon Men thought she was an Earth Man and made her their ruler”, Daily Express, 05 Nov 1957. Reference: Carl Giles Trust collection CG/1/4/1/3/12/3 (GAA121419) 

The Commonwealth

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Dr Balasubramanyam Chandramohan:

  1. Margaret Belsky, “After all why shouldn’t the Queen protest – I expect she gets fed up with the rest of the Commonwealth criticising Britain all the time”, The Sun, 08 January 1969. Reference: Cuttings Collection 14577 
  2. Jak [Raymond Jackson], “Je demande que la Grande Bretagne soit chassee du Commonwealth si elle vend des armes a l’Afrique du sud”, Evening Standard, 20 October 1970. Reference: Cuttings Collection 18825 
  3. Michael Cummings , “Really, Mr. Stewart, it might come as a merciful release if Britain could be expelled from the Commonwealth”, Daily Express, 25 June 1965. Reference: Cuttings Collection 07292 
  4. Carl Giles, “And Rajah – be a good chap and control those long rumbling tummy noises during the Commonwealth speeches.”, Daily Express, 24 November 1983. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/1/3239 (GA4603) 
  5. Will Dyson, Our big brother and the little strangers, Daily Herald, Undated. Reference: Will Dyson Collection WD0597 

Will Dyson, Our big brother and the little strangers, Daily Herald, Undated. Reference: Will Dyson Collection WD0597

Ronald ‘Carl’ Giles

The cartoons for this theme were selected and described by Cam Matthews: 

44. Carl Ronald Giles, “An appeal has been made for every nurse to be off duty during the inquiry into the Nurses v. Hospital Authorities dispute in Guernsey.” Daily Express, 16th July 1957. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/1/973 (GA1328) 

45. Carl Ronald Giles, “We’ve been thinking about your parrot, Grandma. Supposing we can’t get a turkey for Christmas…” Daily Express, 25th November 1947. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/1/3787 (GA5454) 

46. Grandma Giles doll made by Dorothy Read, Undated. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/5/3/39 (GAX00058)  

Image of a doll of the character Grandma created by Carl Giles. Grandma is wearing a black hat with a blue trim, and a black dress. She carries a black handbag with a clasp, and an umbrella with a duck head handle, and is also wearing a brown fur stole.

Grandma Giles doll made by Dorothy Read, Undated. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/5/3/39 (GAX00058)

47. Carl Ronald Giles, “I’m jotting down a list of all the ones who aren’t laughing their heads off.” Daily Express, 17th February 1987. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/1/3532 (GA5027) 

48. Police Helmet, Undated. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/4/1/45 (GAX00085) 

49. Ink, paint and paintbrushes from Giles’ studio, Undated. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection (uncatalogued) 

50. Carl Ronald Giles, “Well, well, well, well, well! Man have they got your number!” Sunday Express, 1st March 1970. Reference: Carl Giles Trust Collection CG/1/1/2/802 (GA2779) 

Zines Zines Zines! New exhibition in the Templeman Gallery

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Title of exhibition - Zines Zines Zines - written in a DIY ransom note font

Come and see our new exhibition in the Templeman Gallery about the history and development of zines, and featuring zines from the Queer Zine Library – which will be up throughout September 2023.

What are zines?

Zines are do-it-yourself publications – often in the form of photocopied booklets. They are either unique items or have a limited number of copies in circulation. They are cheap to make, require no particular skills to create, and have hugely varied content including art, poetry, cartoons, collage, interviews and commentary. The history of zines is rooted in radical political self-publishing and provide an opportunity for expression of views and perspectives outside of the mainstream press.

What is in the exhibition?

View of an exhibition case with two information boards to the left. The exhibition case contains a range of zines and small press publications with captions alongside.

Display of zines and small press publications from Special Collections and Archives that highlight the history of zine making and self publishing.

The exhibition features examples of zines and small press printing selected from across our collections in Special Collections and Archives – including from the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive, the Modern Firsts poetry collection, examples from our artists’ books collection, and our new zine archive donated and collated by Dan Thompson.

These zines provide examples from across the history of zine making from early 18th century pamphlets (such as ‘Common Sense’ by Thomas Paine) to Beat Poetry in the mid 20th century to zines created by comedian Josie Long in her Kindness and Exuberance tour in the 2000s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are also delighted to host a selection of zines from the Queer Zine Library – a mobile DIY library celebrating radical LGBTQIA+ zines and self–publishing. With huge thanks to Holly Callaghan, one of our amazing Divisional Liaison Librarians, who organised the loan of the material from the Queer Zine Library and provided the captions about each item on display.

And finally, we are also delighted to feature some beautiful and moving examples of artists’ books created by participants in the Open Book project, a book-making project organised by the Canterbury Festival offered to those living with dementia to express their experiences both visually and through text. With thanks to Amanda Sefton Hogg at the Canterbury Festival for providing these examples from the project to include in the exhibition.

Get a Free Zine and Make Your Own!

You can pick up a free info-zine about the exhibition, and even have a go at making a zine yourself at the making station. We can’t wait to see your creations! You can share a picture with us by emailing specialcollections@kent.ac.uk.

Image showing table in the exhibition space with three piles of free info-zines for people to take away, some paper and pens for people to make their own zine, and an information board about zines at the University of Kent

The making station in the Templeman Gallery exhibition space where you can make your own zine

Small black and white zine, standing up with the front cover visible showing the text "Zines Zines Zines! Templeman gallery A Block 1st Floor. Aug/Sept 2023. An exhibition about the history and development of zines! Featuring items from Special Collections and Archives AND the Queer Zine Library!" In the background of the image in soft focus are other copies of the zine displayed on the table.

Free info-zine about the exhibition. Come along and take one.

 

50 years of cartoons at the University of Kent, 2023-2025

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In 1973 the first cartoons arrived at Kent, in the shape of a large deposit of 20,000 cartoons from the Daily Mail and Evening News. This paved the way for the establishment of the Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature (CSCC), which was formally inaugerated at the University of Kent in October 1975. Dr Graham Thomas, who worked at the university’s Politics Department, was instrumental in it’s founding and, along with colleagues such as Colin Seymour-Ure, built the CSCC into one of the largest and most significant collections of cartoons in the UK. Today we know these collections as the British Cartoon Archive. 

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the CSCC and the British Cartoon Archive, we’ll be hosting a variety of events and activities from Summer 2023 through to Winter 2025. Information about these events will be posted here.

The 50/50 Project: Celebrating 50 Years of the British Cartoon Archive (June-December 2023)

A photograph of the volunteers working at tables in our reading room. On top of the tables you can see various books and archival materials.

Our volunteers selecting and reviewing material in the Special Collections and Archives Reaing Room.

This is a volunteer-led project aiming to explore and select 50 cartoons from across the British Cartoon Archive collections to feature in an exhibition in the Templeman Gallery. The project took place on Mondays throughout June 2023.  The exhibition will be on display from October 2023 to Febraury 2024.

After an initial tour of the collections the volunteer group got hands-on with cartoons, searching our catalogues, viewing material, and writing captions, before curating the exhibition.

The exhibition has now been installed and can be viewed in the Templeman Gallery space (first floor, A block) until early February 2024.

Cartooning Covid-19 (October-December 2023)

‘Cartooning Covid-19’ was a 10-week volunteering project which aimed to make available cartoons published in national papers during the Covid 19 pandemic between March and December 2020. Through the description and cataloguing of these cartoons, we will ensure that this important period in recent history is captured in the cartoon catalogue of the British Cartoon Archive for use in learning, teaching and research.  

The project was carried out using a hybrid model of in-person group sessions and remote virtual cataloguing. Volunteers were provided with full training as part of the project, including sessions from the archive team about the BCA and the work they would carry out to preserve it and make it available, and they were given access to library resources such as newspaper archives and both physical and digital cartoon collections.

Morten Morland, The Times 27 April 2020

 

 

 

One of the project volunteers, Amy, had the following to say about the project:

“I have been volunteering with UKC for the past 3 months and I have found it to be a very rewarding time. Helping to curate the cartooning COVID collection has been eye opening experience on a personal level for me, as this is something which will be discussed in future History lessons but something we are also still trying to adapt to and learn to live with. The experience during this project has been enjoyable as well as challenging, from getting to know a little more about the artists behind the comics, to remembering Boris Johnson’s cabinet and the many reshuffles along the way including the many mixed messages, opinion and unprecedented challenges shared by those around him. Whilst doing this collection its has also pushed my own limits as modern-day politics is not within my normal comfort zone. The special collections and archives have a variety of different projects on going, so I will be looking forward to volunteering again in the new year.”

The project led to almost 400 cartoons being catalogued – search https://archive.cartoons.ac.uk now to find them!

The project will began in October 2023, see https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/specialcollections/2023/09/01/cartooning-covid-19-call-for-volunteer-participants/ for more information.

 

The art of books continued…

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When I was little, the favourite present I ever received, was a pretty pink diary, complete with lock and miniature key. Since this key doubled as a pendant one can easily see how such a gift appealed to my vanity. Nowadays, all my secret thoughts are worn on my sleeve; my diary just a scrapbook of places I’ve been. But the point of my rhyme is the lesson this taught me: that books are revered, treasured, and possessed materially.

It is undoubtedly a privilege to conduct outreach with Special Collections, and of course this requires transportation of items and their weight alone makes one appreciate the physicality of the book anew. Thus, when we showcase our Pre-1700 folios, we draw attention to the scale of the book as a status symbol as well as an indicator of early modern print technologies. Of course, the miniature book can be as fascinating as the grandest of tomes, as – for instance – our much-loved tiny rhyming bible, Verbum sempiternum, abridged in couplets by the Water Poet, John Taylor. Whilst we can’t possibly know for certain, I like to conjecture how this well-thumbed book could have been intended for daily meditative use, to be carried on one’s person at all times. Certainly, the biblical text is followed by prayers for morning and evening as if to suggest the applicability of reading it over the course of one day.

Image of Verbum sempiternum, open at page from Exodus, reading 'Grasshoppers, darkness, death of first-born men: these were th'Egyptian plagues, in number ten.'

John Taylor, Verbum sempiternum [1693]

Religious texts dominate the landscape of early modern print, but our collections also reveal how these texts have been subjects for decorative book-making and manipulation well into the present day. As I mentioned in my previous post, we took Sophie Adams’ Book of common prayer (2016) with us to the Art of Books workshops in Ramsgate, into which she has folded the word ‘Prozac’. What I missed saying was that we also took two further examples of religious texts that epitomise the idea that a book is also a treasury. This edition of Wesley’s hymns still has its original early-nineteenth-century clasped binding, which (however) is so tight it’s warped the book’s covers. And this Victorian book, Parables of our Lord, is a replica of medieval manuscript with a beautiful papier-maché cover that resembles Italian church doors as if to invite the reader to open the book as a means of unlocking sacred knowledge.

image of Wesley's hymns, showing clasped binding.

John Wesley. A collection of hymns, for the use of the people called Methodists (1809)

image of Parables of our Lord, showing pages that imitate medieval manuscript and the parable of the sower.

Parables of our Lord (1847)

Other artist books we showcased deliberately conflate text and textile, notably Alison Stewart’s Fabricback novel (2010) in which each page has been uniquely crafted out of textiles to both reveal and remove the communication barrier text presents to the dyslexic individual. And if textiles can be read as texts, so too can texts feature textiles in their composition. The earliest paper in books was made of linen rag. And consider this example from our Osborne facsimiles collection: The dog’s dinner party, the cover of which truthfully announces how versions ‘mounted on cloth’ were available at a steeper price so as to resist tearing in the uncoordinated clumsy hands of small children. Such untearable editions were widely available from the 1850s, and stemmed from a growing market for picture and toy books at the time.

Image of Fabricback novel, each page uniquely made using different textile techniques.

Alison Stewart, Fabricback novel (2010)

Image of the front cover of The dog's dinner party.

Harrison Weir, The dog’s dinner party (1981, facsimile)

Since the objective of our workshop was to encourage children (and adults) to have a go at making books for themselves, we also showcased a variety of Special Collections items featuring multi-media or otherwise diverting forms. Ryanairpithiplanium, for instance, is a small press poem that has been deliberately, subversively, produced in the form of a paper aeroplane. And Welcome to heck is an anonymously, multi-authored scrapbook diarising events on Remembrance Day, 2018, to celebrate the Armistice Centenary. Both examples, one professional and the other amateur, play with notions of what a book is and – I hope – encourage you to play at making books too! Check out these ideas by artist Tina Lyon for some simple instructions on paper-folding and book-binding and show us what you create!

Image of Ryanairpithiplanium, single sheet poem folded into a paper aeroplane.

Jeff Hilson and Tim Atkins, Ryanairpithiplanium (2014)

Image of example pages from Welcome to heck, with leaf and other sensory pieces pasted in.

Anon. Welcome to heck (2018)

In Conversation with Rania Saadallah

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On Wednesday 24th May we launched our Telling Our Tales series of workshops and talks with an ‘In Conversation’ event, where Basma El Doukhi spoke online to Rania Saadallah, a stateless refuge and photographer. 

Rania Saadallah is a third-generation stateless Palestinian refugee who uses photography as a tool to share and tell tales about Palestinian refugees, mainly women, in the camps of Lebanon. Rania said: “Five years ago, I started my story in the world of photography. When it was enough to make me know people more, their pain and joy, in addition to creating a kind of love for people’s faces more. Despite this time, until this moment, every photography experience creates a state of fear and anxiety, as if it was the first time I was photographing. I moved between filming workshops, stories from the camps, exhibitions, and many stories that took a part of my soul.”

Self image of Rania Saadallah who stands in front of a red curtain, using a mirror and her phone to take her photograph. Rania wears a bag on her front, has dark curly hair and is wearing a blue mask.

Self-portrait image of Rania Saadallah

Basma El Douhki is a PhD Researcher in Migration Studies with the Global Challenges Doctoral Centre (GCDC) at the University of Kent. For many years Basma has been active in humanitarian and development work with refugees and asylum seekers within UNHCR, UNRWA and international NGOs in Lebanon and Syria. Basma’s own lived experience as a refugee, and her post-graduate studies in Emergency and Development Studies, have influenced her work exploring the nature of refugee-led organisations and the factors conditioning their impact and interventions.

Basma El Doukhi looks towards the camera and wears a black headscarf and red and black embellished dress

Basma El Doukhi

We are also very grateful to Hela, a friend of Rania, who was providing an English translation of Rania’s words for us.

Photography in protracted displacement as a tool of activism

The conversation between Basma and Rania was inspiring and uplifting, covering using photography as a tool of activism, and as a way of telling and sharing the stories of Palestinian refugees. Rania mainly photographs and works with women in the camps in Lebanon, and with her work seeks to challenge narratives about refugees inside and outside the camps.

Rania explained that photography is a powerful tool that can keep memories alive. She spoke about the many stories, in every corner of the camps in Lebanon, and her desire to tell stories and make women’s voices heard. She wants to share these stories through people’s faces and expressions, capturing their experiences and bringing them to the outside world to increase compassion and understanding about refugees.

Rania touched on some of the challenges in her work, which included building relationships with people, often strangers to her, to make them comfortable enough with her to allow her to photograph them and tell their story. She also sometimes worried about going to certain areas of the camps, in terms of her personal safety, to meet people and ensure that she could connect with and tell stories of all different people in a variety of circumstances.

A further challenge for Rania is being taken seriously as a photographer in this world, and even more so given her status as a refugee living in refugee camps.

Rania’s dream is to open her own gallery that gathers stories from the women living in the camps. Though her gallery she wishes to show how women can be supported through her own actions, and also help more women to get the support they need.

Rania’s photography work

This video shows some photos taken by Rania Saadallah of stateless Palestinian refugees in the Rashidieh Palestinian camp in Lebanon. Rania, herself a third-generation stateless Palestinian refugee, uses photography as a tool to challenge the status quo and share narratives about refugees, particularly women who she encounters in the camp. Sharing people’s stories through their faces and their expressions, captures their experiences and brings them to the outside world to increase compassion and understanding. #KentRefugeeWeek

 

Q&A: Rania responds to audience questions

How can we in the UK support you in your work? 

Rania felt she has a responsibility to find ways of delivering the stories she captures in the correct ways. She felt that some people don’t care about what happens to refugees inside the camps. She wants to ensure the stories are delivered to the right audiences so that she can communicate better about the experience of refugees and how people cope with being stateless.

Why do you like to photograph faces and expressions, and how do you think this helps challenge the narrative about refugees? 

Basma and Rania both commented that often photography coming from the camps, from NGOs for example, shows people as victims, with miserable expressions and as vulnerable and helpless people. These images do not portray people as happy, empowered, and talented, or tell the positive stories about people’s lives and experiences.

Rania told us about an experience she had on a filming project where she was working to take photographs of people’s faces in a way that is natural and real, rather than posed and fake. She felt that photographing faces is important, and connecting with the individual in the process makes them feel that they are not being used and that they have an interesting story to tell. That they can be portrayed as successful, talented and happy and that this is a real reflection of them and their experiences.

Do you feel like you are making a difference, or that change is happening? 

Rania spoke about the change and the difference she was making to the individuals she was photographing. She made them happy, and empowered them by telling their stories. However, she noted that larger, wider scale change was difficult to achieve. it was harder to have a bigger impact on conditions in the camps.

How do you feel about your role in inspiring young girls and women in photography and storytelling in the camps? 

Rania feels proud that girls now approach her to teach them. One of them is Hela (our translator today) who reached out to her. They then go out together to find the stories to tell from the camps. Rania also noted that they were learning so much themselves from the people they photograph, so the relationship was mutually helpful.

At the University there are several camp experienced female staff and students, or those with refugee experiences. How can we help the cause? 

Rania said that people such as Basma and other camp experienced people at the University were helping to portray a really good image of refugees, and were helping people from their backgrounds. Rania spoke of the role of the diaspora, and that going out to another place and not forgetting their home or their people was important. She felt that the women at the University were sharing experiences that represented those still in the camps and in their home countries, and she found this very inspiring.

Rania ended the talk by saying that she was very happy to be incited to speak with Basma, and to show the world that refugees are here, and that they are inspiring and talented. She also hopes that she has the opportunity to work together again in the future.

Thank you very much to Rania and to Basma, and to Hela for the fantastic translation for this session.