Piotr Malecki

Photographer and Filmmaker

www.piotrmalecki.com

Facing Brexit

Location: Warsaw, Poland

Nationality: Polish

Biography: Press photographer, author of photographic reportages, portraitist, documentary filmmaker. Born in 1967 in Koszalin, Poland. He graduated in documentary film at the Wajda School, also studied cinematography at the Faculty of Radio and Television... read on

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Elisa, 22, from Romania. Music student and a blogger.
"I don't know if I will have the same rights to work. I did finish a degree here, but I am not entirely sure about the work. I am applying for masters and I don't know if I will still get a student loan"

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Aline, 29, Brasilian/Portuguese, Architect.
"I ve been here for 5 years. I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe we will have to move, or pay more taxes or change our standard of life "

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Hugo, 27, bar employee.
"I am not sure wether it will happen or not and wether free travel will be affected ad I will need a visa to travel to countries in the Union. But it will not affect my job in the bar industry. It is going to be stable in the UK, we love to drink, you know. "

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Sharon, 54, unemployed.
"I voted to stay in. It wasn't so much about myself, but I was voting for my grandchildren, I though that it's not right for them. The opportunity would open up as they grow older. We all need each other and would be better to stay together. I would like to live in the world where there is more movement. More of us working there and more of them working here. I did feel afterwards (the referendum) that I don't think we all understood exactly what was going on. "
Photo by Piotr Malecki

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Robert, 56.
"Initially Brexit will have a negative impact, which will affect me because of the industry I work in. Also my pension fund and investments are going to take a dip. But after the initial slump Britain will be in a unique opportunity to give different financial incentives to foreign investors and the economy will be a lot better off from coming out. "

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Ali, 22, from Iraq. Working at the street market.
"It's not going to affect me much. Probably the currency will decrease in the first months but than it will pick up and get better. Prices from Europe will be higher on the market."

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Anna, 39. Polish, works at the Jewish kitchen.
"I hope that it will not affect our lives at all, that we will continue to work. We did not come here to take the benefits. However, we do not fully believe that this brexit will come to fruition, we still have a great hope that something may change. But they promise us that everything will be like it used to be. We hope. We have no intention of running away from here."

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Raphaela, 36, Israeli artist and singer.
"I am an immigrant, living here very long. Brexit will open more doors, because the immigrants will have to become more unified, work together."

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Duran, 40, a baker.
"Everything is okay now so why are they trying to do something different? It is going to affect price of the food and vegetables because they are getting everything from outside of the country. If they get Brexit they will have to pay extra for the tax. I may also have less customers because they will need a visa to be here."

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Alex, 32, owner of a storage company.
"Brexit does not affect my personal life but affects a lot of my friends who are visitors from Europe. They may have to go home. People come here to have a different life. They should be able to have it."

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Frazer, 55.
"It will be very hard for the UK, I do believe that we are a country that needs Europe. But if the British people have voted, we have to stick to it."

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Tilly, 25, a filmmaker.
"Brexit will limit a lot in terms of traveling and living in other countries. At the moment all is up in the air, I was in production company for two years and four people just got made redundant, myself included. At the moment a lot of companies are a bit unsure at what's happening, how to handle employees and business. I am a bit uncertain."

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Maruin, 38, unemployed, living on the street.
"Immigrants pretty much rule this country, they take the jobs, the whole thing is in shambles. I think that Brexit will be the independence. The second independence of Britain."

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James, 32, running a skin care business.
"I am currently trying to raise investment for my company and I think uncertainty of Brexit is going to make it a lot harder."

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Amy, 34. Works in film industry.
“No one knows what’s going on,” said Amy Besate, a 34-year-old who works in the film industry. “So instead of finding permanent position where I work … I get contracts. So (Brexit’s) not even happened and it’s already affecting me.”

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Grace, 34, Australian, works in fundraising for a drama school.
"I think my job is secure, but the living costs will be higher, so it will affect how I spend my time and types of food I can buy. Brexit will also affect my job in terms of how much money people we will be able to donate."

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Jenny, 70, photographer
"Who knows how Brexit will affect me? Nobody knows. It's shocking, depressing, really stepping to the unknown. I was really proud of being European and we've got away from such a little England complex where people want to pull up the walls and defend the island. For me personally the great thing about being English is our contact with other countries and the fact that I live in multicultural borough which makes for a very rich lifestyle. And I feel that people's fears of what's going to happen means a retreat and many of my friends are talking of leaving. Everyone I know how has a possibility is applying for European passport. I am stuck with the British one."

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Timothy, 22, freelance photographer.
"I am a lucky guy - I was born in Switzerland but my mum is British, so I have two passports. For me it's gonna be ok. "

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Jacob, 28, from Czech Republic
"How it affects me depends on how strict they will be, if we can travel to the UK"

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Jewell, 23, from USA.
"I don't know what Brexit is. I am from US and I haven't heard of it back at home. Never heard of it"

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Emily, 23, fine art student
"My flatmate and very good friend is from Slovenia and I am already quite worried how that may affect how he lives here and if he can stay here. Previously I lived in Vienna for six months, so having the opportunity to go back there.. it's very uncertain, kind of horror times of trying to understand. There's just so many unanswered questions. "

Public Story

Facing Brexit

Credits: piotr malecki

Date of Work: 03/02/19 - 03/05/19

Updated: 12/03/19

Location: London

Archived as: Borders, brexit, Civil Rights, Community, Conceptual, Confrontation, Documentary, Education, Essays, Human Rights, Immigration, Migration, Minority, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, Portraiture, Street

How will Brexit affect you? I asked this simple question to the people walking on the London streets and invited them to my makeshift studio on the pavement. London, March 2019