We Are Here, Because You Were There is a collaborative project which documents, through portraiture and quotes, experiences of Afghan interpreters who were employed by the British Army and recently resettled to the UK.

By centering Afghan interpreters’ own stories, photographer Andy Barnham and researcher Sara de Jong invite viewers to engage with the people behind the headlines and numbers.  It encourages reflection on the deep entanglement between the UK and Afghanistan, as individual stories and images reflect the structural and lasting impact of Britain’s military intervention and migration policies.

Photographer Andy Barnham has edited the portraits to help anonymise the interpreters still at risk, and have family in Afghanistan who are under threat. The portraits presented are a composite of up to a dozen frames which have been blurred or pixelated and then overlaid to present a final portrait. This process can also be seen as inflicting trauma on the portraits, in acknowledgement of events experienced when serving with NATO forces and escaping Afghanistan.

The quotes are selected from interviews conducted by Dr Sara de Jong (Department of Politics, University of York), covering Afghan interpreters’ experiences of working for the British Armed Forces, their evacuation, and resettlement in the UK.

Portraits from the project were winners in the portraiture category of the 2022 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3)

Image Caption

Composite of portraits taken by Andy Barnham

Opening Event

Friday 14 October, 3.30pm

Location
Table
  • Room

    Upper Foyer gallery

  • Venue

    Tramway

  • Address

    25 Albert Drive, Glasgow, UK

  • Phone Number

    0845 330 3501

  • Website