In No Man's Land- Dale Farm


  • Photographer
    Mary Turner
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Mary Turner
  • Date of Photograph
    2010-2011

Dale Farm in South-East England is one of the largest Irish Traveller site in Europe, home to 86 families. After a long legal battle, the UK government has voted to evict the Travellers this year, a decision which will leave them homeless, refugees in the country they were born in. The laws and attitudes of modern society have no place for Gypsy and Travellers’ lifestyle, and they are increasingly being ostracised and displaced in this way across Europe. I have spent two years working at Dale Farm with this private community. Contrary to popular opinion Travellers live deeply religious, traditional and family oriented lives in trailers based on permanent sites, but many are illiterate and live in poverty and poor health. These pictures show the everyday life of a community trying to hold onto their family and nomadic heritage during a period of difficult transition to the modern world.

Story

‘I don’t know why no-one’s ever took the time to find out what we’re really like, if we’re real human beings. They just say “move ‘em on, move ‘em on,” and that’s the top and bottom of it.’ – Barbara Sheridan, Dale Farm, 2011.
Dale Farm in South-East England is one of the largest Irish Traveller sites in Europe, home to 86 families. After a long legal battle, the UK government voted to evict the Travellers this year, a decision which will leave them homeless, refugees in the country they were born in. The residents of Dale Farm are despised indiscriminately by those who live in the same county. The laws and attitudes of modern society have no place for Gypsy and Travellers’ lifestyle, and they are increasingly being ostracised and displaced in this way across Europe. I have spent two years working at Dale Farm with this private community. Contrary to popular opinion, which paints them as vulgar and dangerous, I have grown to know a kind and generous people. They opened their homes to me from the beginning and despite the differences in our lives and cultures, we found common ground. They live deeply religious, traditional and family oriented lives in trailers based on permanent sites, but many are illiterate and live in poverty and poor health. These pictures show the everyday life of a community trying to hold onto their family and nomadic heritage during a period of difficult transition to the modern world.

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