Identity in Newcastle's photostream  

I'm a PhD researcher at Newcastle University looking at Polish Migrant Families in the North East (please visit: polishfamiliesnewcastle.blogspot.com) to find out more.

This photostream (Identity in Newcastle) came about as part of my thesis on Polish migration; I went on to the streets of Newcastle to find and then photograph expressions of Polish identity. This research method is known as ethnographic photography.

What I found instead was a huge, rich, exciting array of identity (identities), in which expressions of Polishness play just one role. Through this photostream I hope to detail the context in which North East Polish identity sits.

This project has gone from looking at identity in the city to looking at the North East's urban grain in general. The North East of England has rarely been appreciated, recognised and recorded as a space of multiculturalism. I hope that this visual data collection demonstrates to some extent how local and regional expressions of identity fit alongside and sometimes together with expressions of ethnicity, religion and nationhood.

This photostream is not about the quality of the photo, unfortunately (I wish I had that talent!), but it is intended as a celebration and exploration of identity in the North East of England.

Rachel Clements,
Department of Geography
Newcastle University