Gomma Photography Grant 2021
The Split - A Brexit love story
Photographer
Line Sondergaard
The Split - A Brexit love story
01 Feb, 2022
Aleksandra from Lithuania works at a factory in England, is a single mom and has just fallen in love. Albert is a retired fisherman, widower and ready for an uproar. They both reside in the same English town, but live totally separate lives. BRUDDET (The Split) begins as the UK heads for a referendum that will shake the country, Europe and the world. In no other town did more inhabitants vote to leave the EU than in Boston, Lincolnshire. Photographer Line Ørnes Søndergaard and writer Yohan Shanmugaratnam follow Aleksandra, Albert and Boston from the time leading up to the referendum and through the following years of turbulence, until Brexit is fulfilled on January 1st, 2021. This is a story about borders opening and minds closing, about class and identity, about solidarity and distrust – and a love affair initiated in times of disruption. BRUDDET (The Split) is a documentary book that, through complementing photographic and literary parts, portrays a town that became the epicentre of one of the biggest political shocks in our time, and presents a close encounter with the people who live through the ripples. Published by publisher Press March 2021 (NO). Now seeking publisher for UK
About the photographer
Line Sondergaard
Line Ørnes Søndergaard (b. 1986) is a project based photographer with a background in film, television and documentary. Søndergaard´s work moves in the intersection between documentary and art and and deals with social and political issues, often using intimate encounters as the framework for her projects. With a consistent tone of condition and standstill she seeks to convey the emotional aspect of the situation people find themselves in, looking for resemblance. Her intimate photographic approach has received attention in the photographic landscape and awarded at large; (a.o) Norwegian Picture of The Year, Picture Of the Year International, The Lucie Foundation and NPPA Best of Photojournalism award. Søndergaard has been selected for prestigious programs such as World Press Photo’s Joop Swartz Masterclass, Norwegian Journal of Photography and VII Photo Mentor program. Her work has been widely published and exhibited and is a part of the permanent collection of Preus Museum, Norway. Apart from her personal long-term projects, she is an established editorial photographer and lectures in visual narrative storytelling at the BA program in Photojournalism, Oslo. Current with the book "Bruddet" (Press, 2021) together with writer Yohan Shanmugaratnam.
