Smile (If You Still Can), You're in 'The Brexit Photo Booth'

The bitter aftertaste of Brexit continues to hang in the air, as British members of parliament demand Prime Minister Theresa May permit a debate over the steps Britain will take in leaving the European Union (EU), keeping the general public in a continued state of uncertainty. Reflecting this post-Brexit world at The Other Art Fair—London’s East End alternative to Frieze—artist Jasper Joffee has created a dialogue about identity, using a simple method of photography, with The Brexit Photo Booth.

“It’s kind of a silly and arbitrary thing, but in a way, that’s what meriting borders and nationalities is like,” Joffee tells The Creators Project. “Of course they’re important when you need them but the whole idea of dividing people up in that way is ridiculous, at least in my sense of it.”

People interested in The Brexit Photo Booth have their photograph taken behind a blue drape background using a high resolution camera. Similar to a photo booth found at a wedding, individuals get colorful balloon props to play with, usually resulting in fun and animated portraits. Once printed, the photo is hung on a wall divided into three sections—EU, UK, or World—the person deciding in which area they would like to belong to.

“For example, we just had a girl whose family are Russian but she’s got a British passport,” explains Joffee. “She wanted to go into the European section. Then, some British people want to go in the European section because they’re sad about Brexit. Some want to go in the UK section.”

Red-and-blue drawings done by Joffee accompany the wall where the pictures hang, giving the overall piece a look of a Union Jack. Joffee’s intention here, he says, was to present, “an overall sense of a big flag that all the people have created.”

“You’re not going to have all blonde-haired blue-eyed people in the British section, or all French and Germany people in the European section,” says Joffee. “People are flowing between the spaces.”

For the most part, Joffee explains, attendees of The Other Art Fair approached The Brexit Photo Booth in amusement, but later, were able to partake in thought-provoking and sometimes cathartic discussions, side by side with strangers.

“Art is always this conversation,” says Joffee. “I’m not saying, ‘Here’s Brexit, look it's terrible,’ because no one wants to have that shoved in their face, they can read a newspaper if they want that. I think art is always about engaging people in a conversation about things in a less aggressive way than politics.”

On June 23, 2016 51.9% of Britain voted to leave the EU, making some of the population feel like they had reclaimed their identity, and others feeling like they had lost it.

The Brexit Photo Booth was presented by artist Jasper Joffee at The Other Art Fair, which ran October 6th through to 9th in London. Click here to learn more, and click here to see more of Jasper Joffee’s work.

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