Samuel Fordham

Bristol-based artist Samuel Fordham addresses issues of immigration and ‘Skype families’ in his political artwork. Importantly, ‘C-R92/BY’ is an eclectic series which explores the lives of families that can not physically or geographically be together. The mobile phone in this striking image symbolises this. Subsequently, divisive family immigration policies contribute to this situation in the UK. They keep families apart, in different countries. As a result, the Home Office is forcibly separating thousands of families. In essence, ‘C-R92/BY’  seeks to investigate the effects on a family when members physically and geographically removed and they are seen only as a 2-D image on a screen. In turn, this political artwork series gives a voice to the suffering families, also know as ‘skype families’, that are left reliant on virtual communication.

Simultaneously, a narrative exploring ideas of ‘presence and absence’ is prominent in Fordham’s photographic ‘interventions’. For this reason, each accompanying text is just as important as the visual work.

“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.”