Set of photographs #11

Commentary from participant

1. Bus and Rail Centre. ‘I use public transport a lot. One of the most important places is the bus and rail centre; I am there almost every day.

2. View from Main Street [Bangor]. I feel very much at home, the sea blinking always.

3. This tree is at a bustop. It was very dry and I watered it. I am concerned about the environment and am part of a litter picking team

4. This picture is of gladioli. My mother used to grow these flowers and so having them in the vase really connects with home. This is really a kind of altar – I am now of the Baháʼí Faith. It is a very important part of my life. We gather every 90 days in each others’ houses, we do not have churches. During Covid we met over Zoom.

5. and 6 and 7. This is the beach where I swim most of the time. This is now part of the routine of my life, free swimming. It has a positive effect on my mental health

8. The picture of an overgrown house is a little bit like me. When I came here the house was bare. I planted a small pot of ivy in 1996. Now the house is covered in ivy and Virginia Creeper. There are so many families of birds, especially house sparrows. The picture symbolizes how I am still myself but I have adopted things from here. I met somebody lately who thought I was from Belfast – that gave me a feeling of belonging here. Some people ask me where I am from, though and that jars a bit, it is like being checked out. It is a funny feeling, as if I were an imposter being found out. We have Asylum Seekers in Bangor [a town by the sea near Belfast]. Sometimes people don’t like things you do; the only thing is to have conversations.

9. and 10. These are the flags which they [some people from the Unionist and loyalist communities to celebrate the victory of the Dutch king, William of Orange over the Catholic King James in 1690], but the flag is still there in August. It is also a protest symbol or sign. I find the flags intimidating. Sometimes places are full of flags. There are paramilitary flags in one of these pictures. I find these flags really troubling. I contacted the police because there never had been a flag in that particular place before. But they said they could not do anything, it would be up to the community. But someone did remove it.

11. This picture features Queen’s University School of Music. It is a beautiful area. I love the trees and the changing leaves. The building is almost hidden. It represents myself. I work at Queen’s but nobody really knows me. I am quite happy though. I attended a course in 1997, a Certificate in Community Work and that really opened my eyes. I was involved in trying to get a playground built. We had a Residential in Galway. Such a gem. The course helped me to reflect on racism, focused on the Chinese community as they were the biggest foreign community here. People in Northern Ireland were so focused on one another, they forget other people who were living here. As a result of taking that course, I offered courses myself on journalism and German.

12. The street art says ‘Show some Love’. It is part of a project called ‘Into the North’, which is about interpreting the situation in Northern Ireland. It is meant to cheer people up. I love this.

13. This is another picture of me being on the beach. That is my friend’s hand, it is the hand of friendship. I have made lovely friends here. Northern Ireland has grown on me. I have grown on Northern Ireland – like the ivy.

14. This is a Baháʼí symbol – we can never know God.

15, 16. These pictures are rails or blinds which are closed, they symbolize how closed off we are from knowing what is going on in other people’s lives.

‘Belonging means also having confidence; making good friendships supported me in feeling that I belong. But there is a ‘them and us’ culture. As a German, I say things and it comes across as very forthright so I had to really tone down. I think because I was slightly on the outside, I can make friends on both sides, I can sit on the fence. I need to reflect. It is a liberation, being an outsider. A little bit like being a long lens.’