Photographers Responses to Freedom

PHOTOGRAPHERS’ WRITTEN

RESPONSES TO FREEDOM

FREEDOM

IS KNOWING YOU CAN BE YOU

FREEDOM IS AN ILLUSION

“Freedom is the ability to live without fear. Freedom is the ability to choose. Freedom is a world without barriers.”

“Freedom to protest, freedom to change, freedom to work together, freedom to move forward.”

“Freedom is a very personal thing and means different things to each person. To me, it’s the ability to say, think and go where I like when I want. I do count myself fortunate as not everyone is as lucky, like this coo, it looks like she’s free but in reality, she is confined by the limitations of her field.”

“Freedom means having fresh air, you have to have the ability to dowhatever you want and you’re not afraid to do so.”

“Being able to spend hours just observing others and photographing their activities.”

“I can choose to spend time following my interest in street photography.”

FREEDOM TO ROAM UNHINDERED

PSYCHOLOGICALLY SPIRITUALLY, AND PHYSICALLY.

THE

IF YOU CAN REALLY LIVE IN

MOMENT, THEN YOU ARE FREE.

THE BEAUTY OF NATURE AND SPACE TO WANDER

“Freedom is the most important value in my life. An existence without it would kill the spirit and human dignity inside of me. Freedom gives me abundance and openness to the beauty of the world.”

“Freedom is to be able to break through all possible barriers that may be placed ahead of you. To be able to live as one wishes and move freely without resistance.”

“Freedom, to me is being able to be who you feel, how you want to feel, say what you want to say, express yourself without judgement. If you want to leap into the air free from restraints and restrictions and enjoy life then you are free and able to do that! feel like this stallion free to express himself and lives free in the moment.”

“Freedom is the right to pursue your dreams without prejudice and allow others the same dreams.”

FREEDOM IS WHAT YOU WANT TO BELIEVEIT EXISTS IN THE MIND

JOY, JOY, AND JOY

“Personally, I feel that Freedom is a very challenging topic because it is up to an individual to decide when they feel free. For me, I don’t really believe that I would ever be able to truly feel ‘free’, especially as modern day society places increasing expectations of perfection in the way that we look and act. So, my photograph explores how freedoms are restricted, and how my ideals are warped from everyone else’s.”

“Freedom is about extending human rights to everyone across the world and about fighting the erosion or restriction of those rights that are there to treat people with equality and enable everyone to lead safe and happy lives.”

“To be outside under the sky, able to breath and be in that moment. To see, listen, to have freedom to think and be part of the natural landscape, to be both observer and participant, to have a choice, to have space to dream. Being high up on a Welsh mountainside, with a bird’s eye view of the world, feeling the light changing as the clouds pass by. Freedom to have time to experience peace.”

“Freedom is an absence of fear and a kind of inner clarity through which we can recognise that we are not part of nature, but we are nature, and it’s in that clarity that we realise our innate perfection.”

ESCAPE FROM THE THOUGHTS, FEARS, TRAPS OF DAILY LIFE

SOME PEOPLE WILL SAY WE ARE NOT FREE BECAUSE WE ARE CONTROLLED BY THE WORLD AND THE SURROUNDINGS. TO ME FREEDOM IS THE ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS AND IT’S ENTIRELY UP TO US WHETHER WE CHOOSE TO MAKE THEM OR NOT.

WHAT IS TRULY MEANING OF FREEDOM, ARE WE TRULY FREE FROM OURSELVES? ARE WE FREE FROM SOCIETY?

BEING ABLE TO FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS AND ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS

THE AUTONOMY TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICES

“Freedom is being allowed to challenge the norm and having an opinion that might upset others. Growing up in the 80s I learnt to have a voice and it’s something I have paid forward to my kids.”

“A child plays his bucket drums in a junkyard in Yuendumu, a remote Indigenous community in the Australian outback. Freedom is, in a form that uniquely belongs to our species, the ability to immerse oneself in art regardless of external conditions.

Indigenous Australians don’t have a word for art. In a way, it tells how inseparable in their culture is art from life - to live is to live creatively. In a modern context, the inner freedom to express oneself supports resilience in a diverse society and transcends individuals from a materialistic world.”

“The moment of sleep therefore represents, in a way, an unconscious act of the decorporalization of our existence, of the social and identity system. I would say it reflects a form of anarchy. Sleeper, or the moment of sleep, represents for me, in a most probable sense of freedom.”

BEING ABLE TO WANDER AND WALK AND STOP AND SLEEP WHEREVER

“Freedom refers to a state of independence where you can do what you like without any restriction by anyone. Moreover, freedom can be called a state of mind where you have the right and freedom of doing what you can think off. Also, you can feel freedom from within.”

“Freedom is the ability to Grow, gain Strength and feel Peace. I was lucky enough to be brought up in NZ so when I spotted the Māori Symbol on the highly polished helmet I just had to get my phone out and take the snap. I recognise the spiral as the KORU which symbolises Growth, Strength and peace, its shape conveys perpetual movement (Freedom). I proceeded to line up the image when I noticed the reflection of the National Justice Museum and was so pleased to capture that also.”

“A brief moment of peace with my daughter in Central Park a few weeks ago.”

FREEDOM IS A FEELING. AND LIKE ANY OTHER FEELING CAN BE ONLY DESCRIBED, BUT NEVER ENTIRELY DEFINED. SOMETHING INTANGIBLE, SOMETHING CAN’T BE OUTLINED. A GLIMPSE OF TIME WHEN YOU HAVE NO FEAR.

FOR TO BE FREE IS NOT MERELY TO CAST OFF ONE’S CHAINS, BUT TO LIVE IN A WAY THAT RESPECTS AND ENHANCES THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS

FREEDOM IS THE RIGHT FOR DIGNITY

“Freedom to me means freedom to be yourself. The youth are often depicted as arrogant, and I wanted to depict a freedom of expression through clothes and fashion. It is important as a young person to express your personality.”

“Freedom for me is whenever I feel zero stress and zero anxiety. It can be when I am travelling or when I see a natural view like the photo I took. I forget everything in my life and focus on the beautiful view.”

“As it is, freedom is an empty promise. Those, rare, who benefit from freedom are paradoxically told they can only keep it through obedience, order, and discipline (unless they can buy it). We can only thrive if we abide by the rules of a dysfunctional system which desperately needs this kind of blackmail to survive. Disobedience, the ability to choose to not do what we are told, which is at the core of freedom, is thus a mortal sin which can send you to the prison of Hell or to the Hell of prison. And Freedom is then like Heaven: a promise for the faithful obedient that they will eventually be able to obtain it if they prove the can obey.”

“As Kris Kristofferson sang: “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose... nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free”.

“Freedom means exploration, knowing there are no boundaries. On a smaller, personal scale since having to shield for the past few years in lockdown, it means being able to explore outside and find new places and see the natural beauty all around that was massively missed.”

CLOSE YOUR EYES, SPREAD YOUR ARMS, TAKE A DEEP BREATH, CLEAR YOUR MIND … AND SEIZE THAT VALUABLE MOMENT!

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE

CHOOSING TO BE FREE AND SEEN IN A WORLD THAT SAYS THEY SHOULDN’T EXIST IS REVOLUTIONARY.

TRANS RIGHTS = FREEDOM.

FREEDOM IS THE FREEDOM OF SOUL, ART, TALENT, CREATIVITY IN LIFE, CHOOSING WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY AND MAKES LIFE MORE BEAUTIFUL.

FREEDOM TO ME MEANS; TO HAVE CHOICE AND TO BE MYSELF, DESPITE WHAT ANYONE

THINKS I SHOULD BE OR DO OR SAY.

THE TRAVELLING

“As a woman who has come from a family of displaced origins, I know the struggles of forming an identity and achieving freedom as a migrant woman. Growing up in a new country with a family that is not accustomed to the cultural traditions of the new land was incredibly difficult. From an outsider’s perspective, people can imagine the trials and tribulations of language barriers, lack of education and cultural behaviours. However, it is deeper than many perceive. There is a struggle not only to attain freedom but be able to live it. Freedom to me is difficult because there is a metaphysical and psychological state of trying to attain belonging and forming an identity that both embraces the current culture while not abandoning what it took to achieve it.”

“The title of the photo ‘Reason, I sacrifice you to the evening breeze’ is taken from a poem by Aime Cesaire and yes it represents my idea of freedom. When we are able to break the ties with everyday life, with imposed logics, with prejudices, with social obligations and finally float away or just stay still; abandoning ‘reason’ to the breeze.”

“Freedom starts within yourself. You have to face your fears, stand proud and become a better person than you were yesterday. When you are Fearless you’ve freed yourself!”

“For me freedom means escaping the hustle & bustle of daily routine. I find my freedom outdoors & within nature. I love getting out with just me & my two border collies breathing in fresh air running free on quiet beaches in the sea or in the woods. Perfect.”

“Freedom for me is sitting in peace, unwind and secure in the world which everyone regardless of his or her differences could feel the freedom individually and collectively. The world where, being different excites one another rather than being used to diminish one another.”

MY FREEDOM IS MY CHILDREN

SIMPLY PUT, TO ME FREEDOM MEANS PEACE

“Freedom is traveling suddenly to your dream vacation. The sun is bright, the golden sand is warm against your feet, and you just began to gaze at the most clear horizon where the ocean touches the sky.”

“Freedom is being able to go through life without any stress or worry. The wind is free as it goes wherever it wants to, it is in control whereas in contrast human life is the opposite.”

“The true meaning of freedom; Doing what you like/love, when you want to, with who you like/love, wherever you want to! Because you can!”

“My parents arrived in the UK in the early 90s as asylum seekers, with their freedoms taken away during the Sri Lankan civil war. My early teens coincided with the breaking of the ceasefire and the Mullivaikkal massacre in Sri Lanka, resulting in mass protests being held in front of the diaspora’s governments. To me, freedom represents opportunity to express ourselves safely, and is something that will perpetually be challenged by those who seek to control. From an early age, I realised that freedom cannot be taken for granted and we must voice our fight for it. This photo symbolises protest in its essence – a symbol of unity. The silhouettes amongst the smoke from the flares alongside the letters on the banner creates a familiar scene, of people fighting for and protecting their freedom.”

FREEDOM MEANS SPACE TO LIVE, TO RUN, TO PLAY, TO APPRECIATE

THE ABILITY TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, TO GO WHEREVER YOU WANT AND TALK TO WHOEVER YOU WANT TO

A LIFE WITHOUT FEAR OR WORRY

“I’m a forensic psychologist working in prisons, every day I see the impact the lack of freedom has on people and remember how valuable freedom is. Being able to live freely is a right we are privileged to have.”

“Freedom is not meaning people can “do whatever they want”, but people can “not do whatever they don’t want”. And for me, the most critical sector of freedom is this: Freedom from Fear.”

“Freedom can be small from the fresh breath of air to something big like the ability to fight for injustice. Freedom means restoration, freeing and returning. Giving back what belongs to the citizen, apologising for the damage that was created.”

“Freedom to me can mean many things: space, solitude, open skies.... I love the freedom retirement from employment has given me, to explore art and music. Like many others, I used to have dreams of being able to fly, and I still remember that sensation of lifting into the air and flying free, light as a bird.”

“Freedom is a necessity, have it, be grateful and appreciative, and those without, those with need to fight for them to get it, freedom should be a right, and a promise for people to live with, it’s a beautiful thing, and without it, everybody loses, everything loses, because freedom is the key to living.”

TO BE HAPPY AND SAFE

“Freedom will be the day that carers are not condemned to the current slavery situation of having to give up work to look after sick and disabled family members, which is a fully paid job for care workers on national minimum wage, but not for carers, whose only form of financial support for this full time job is low amounts of benefits and have been insulted with clapping on doorsteps during the global pandemic and are now forgotten about. Freedom is the day that all carers are paid #wagesnotclaps, preferably a CEO level salary.”

“Freedom to me means not only the physical sense of it such as being able to go where you want, do what you want, when you want. It also means freedom of the mind where you can just be, in that moment, and the worries and pressures of the world just fall away, and you become completely absorbed. This is what photography does for me.”

“I believe that the idea of freedom is a really abstract concept, even from my point of view, about my own personal freedom. Regardless I think that the lack of freedom is something that we each experience in different ways and scale, from socio-political to economical to speech to actual lack of freedom to leave your room or being incarcerated. And this shared anxiety of lack of freedom, if we perceive it from someone’s else’s perspective, might actually help us to be more free.”

FREEDOM TO BE YOURSELF. TO BE CAREFREE AND HAPPY

WHAT

WE REFER

TO AS

SHIVA IS THE NON-PHYSICAL DIMENSION OF EXISTENCE WHICH IS THE LARGEST DIMENSION IN THE COSMOS.

THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND EDUCATION FOR ALL.

FREEDOM IS THE FEELING OF BEING ABLE TO BE WHO YOU WANT WITHOUT FEAR.

FREEDOM IS AN ILLUSION, AND THIS ILLUSION OCCUPIES VARIOUS STATES ON A SPECTRUM.

FREEDOM IS EXPRESSING MYSELF THE WAY I WANT, WITHOUT A FEAR.

LOOK AT THE SUBMISSION: IT’S A MIRROR -ALL THE ANCESTORS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.

TO BE FREE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT

“Separating us has been one of the obsessions of human beings and they have invented everything type of objects, models, or titles to keep us that way, my work arises from the reflection of those methods that sometimes become aggressive against the well-being of any body, causing cuts, electric shocks, tetanus, gunshots, arrests, injuries severe or loss of life. In my work I seek to decontextualize these tensions and join them, turn them around or erase them. Me The objective when creating a piece is to think about how these methods could be dismantled through satire and exposing my body to the public.”

“I feel ‘Freedom’ is a symbolic reference point. A fascinating complex word that will open many doors of topical debate. Used within the Arts, it becomes an endless tapestry of imagination. To quote the 60s singer Donovan Leitch who may add to my thoughts. ‘Freedom is a word I rarely use, Without thinking, oh yeah, Without thinking, m-hmm. Of the time, of the time, When I’ve been loved.’

Colours album 1965.”

FREEDOM TO EXPRESS YOURSELF AND A RETURN TO LIVE EXPRESSION AFTER MONTHS OF ISOLATION

FREEDOM DOESN’T EXIST

“In my opinion, freedom represents the rights to be yourself in all circumstances, act & speak the way you and only you wish to. This photograph that I have submitted to me represents that there’s a brighter light at the end of everything, especially with the world situations we have recently faced.”

“Freedom is to stand alone in a field without feeling like you need someone or something else to distract you. The knowledge that you have the world at your fingertips and that you can explore it in your rawest form.”

“Freedom to me is my photography – the process of turning on my camera, looking into the lens and being taken away into a different world, a vast world that I can create where my worries and thoughts cannot bother me. I also hope to pass that onto the viewer; a split-second where they can be taken somewhere else. Create, think, be, exist without worry or burden whether in nature or at home.”

“To me, freedom means creating a new path for our future generation where they can walk and grow without fear and hesitation. I met Kateryna at one of the English classes organised by the Refugee Roots at Windmill Garden, Ascot Road Nottingham. Kateryna and her daughter Anna are one of the 100 million people who had been displaced by June 2022. Being a Refugee is a circumstance, not a choice.”

FOR ME, FREEDOM IS TO BE ABLE TO FREELY EXPRESS YOURSELF, YOUR BELIEFS, YOUR DREAMS IN A WORLD THAT IS NONJUDGEMENTAL, DIVERSE, SUSTAINABLE, PEACE-LOVING.

FREEDOM IS BEING ABLE TO SIT ALONE AND RELAX AT THE SEASIDE IN A SCENIC LOCATION

YOUNG AND CAREFREE, TIME TO PLAY, LAUGH AND TWIRL

‘Muse’: ‘the description of a Muse is that of a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration.

This image of a black man whose lips have been sealed to stop his voice from being heard symbolises the experience of people who have suffered oppression. Despite his lips bound in this artwork, he found a way to communicate. The subject discovers an old, discarded music box and superimposes it onto his mouth to produce a new unfettered voice through music. To conclude, the music box became the source in which to find his voice again.

I believe that freedom is about having the ability to express yourself without limitations. Or, when those restrictions have been placed/forced upon you, you can find a way to break free of them. As a Black person, there have been times when I felt that my freedom had been limited. However, through art, I now have found that freedom.

FREEDOM TO ME IS A FEELING, A FEELING THAT YOU ARE CONTENT WITH ‘JUST BEING’, WHERE ACTIONS, EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS ARE FLEETING, DEALT WITH FINALLY LET GO OF. IT’S NOT A SPIRITUAL OR PHYSICALLY THING MORE A MENTAL THING.

IF EVERYONE IS ALLOWED TO EXPRESS THEIR POINT OF VIEW - EVEN IF THEY ARE WRONG IN DOING SO.

COUNTRYSIDE AIR, MOVEMENT WITHOUT A CARE, NOWHERE TO BE NO ONE TO BE.

WHEN YOU HAVE IT, YOU USUALLY TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. WHEN YOU DON’T, [REDACTED].

I FEEL FREEDOM IS A WAY OF EXPRESSING YOURSELF, AND A WAY OF SPEAKING FOR YOURSELF. WITHOUT FREEDOM, YOU WOULDN’T FEEL KIND YOURSELF.

PERMISSION TO EXPERIMENT, LEARN AND NOT DWELL ON FAILURES

“The photograph shows a shadow on my living room wall, left by the frame of my window. Freedom has taken on a new meaning since the lifting of National Lockdowns during the pandemic. Before, I had never experienced social control in such an obvious way. Confined to my home and able to work I had little to complain about. It did, however, make me sympathise with those in more oppressive regimes and reminds me of the loss of control I felt at the time. The chosen image references the feeling of being trapped and reminds me of Plato’s cave. from inside the room, my only reference to the outside world were the shadows beamed in; be it by the sun, the media or video calls. I look at this image and remember the joy and privilege of social and physical freedom.”

“Freedom is a series of walks, to choose where to point your camera. To experience life on your own terms.”

FREEDOM IS WAKING UP WITH A CHOICE, TO CHOOSE YOUR OWN PATH, AND LIVE THE LIFE U WANT

“During lockdown in 2020, I felt like now is the time to experiment with my photography, as it felt like I had all the time in the world. Even with all the uncertainty, I still felt free. I used this time to focus on myself and to figure out who I was. Being able to paint brushstrokes onto my face and then making art with it, made me feel free! The paint represents all of the scars and all of the times I’ve been hurt. The pose and looking to the light convey the growth within myself it is the end of something, but also the start of something. Knowing you can wash off the paint and start again. The connection to the pandemic is through thinking to use what you’ve got and appreciating the small things. This was taken using my iPhone, in the bathroom, using natural light.”

IT MEANS JOY, ITS BEING

UNRESTRICTED AND HAPPY. NO PRESSURES. NO OBLIGATIONS

FREEDOM IS THE DRIVING FORCE OF LIFE, IT HELPS ME MOVE FORWARD IN LIFE AND EXPLORE MORE

BEING IN OPEN AIR WITH NO RULES

“Freedom to me means that you are able to be at peace with the world and understand that everything happens for a reason, you are free from stress and worry it is all about being in your happy place where nothing can hurt you.”

“This series of photos reflects moments of reclaiming all of the negative and dismissive situations that I encountered along the way. I tried to create a visual language through words and images. Every single photo is a scene from my mental space that battles against social categorization. My photos try to transform into a positive and creative process, upsetting feelings like the isolation, unsafe feelings in various physical and emotional situations, the possibility of getting lost in depressive landscapes or the grieving of the past while offending the present.”

“Freedom means to be outdoors. To feel freedom for me it’s to be with nature with the wind in the trees and the birds singing.”

“Freedom to me means to live and breathe without restraints, struggles or stresses of the mind. I believe it is very easy to get caught up in the prison of the mind and even escape it. I believe freedom is about learning to let go of the prison we easily create in the mind and learning to lift the stresses that stop us from feeling freedom.”

FREEDOM IS POSSIBILITY, A STEP WITHOUT BEING HELD BACK

“Current events have me reflecting on my Grandfather’s journey here from Hungary in 1956. He came here for cultural freedom and choice, free from the influence of state and false Republics. I hope the same values prevail today and for future generations to come.”

“Freedom is the absence of choice. While one could argue the water is on a fixed path, to me, the water falls infinitely. Each and every molecule is simply seeking its own path. Together, we get something truly beautiful.”

“Freedom of expression is not limited to speech, as humans there are multiple ways that we choose to express and to reveal what it is to be human including our imagination, our memories, our emotions, as well as our desires and dreams.”

“Being able to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday existence and enjoy the vastness of nature.”

FREEDOM MEANS TO LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY WITH THE RIGHT TO PEACEFULLY PROTEST AND DISAGREE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY WITHOUT FEAR

FREEDOM TO ME IS A STATE OF PEACE, JOY AND STILLNESS- THE ABILITY TO BE ONE’S TRUEST SELF AND NAVIGATE THE WORLD

FREELY AS A CHOOSE WITH A CHILDLIKE CURIOSITY AND ENTHUSIASM.

A STATE WHERE YOU CAN SAFELY AND OPENLY NAVIGATE YOUR THOUGHTS, YOUR LIFE, YOUR FEELINGS WITHOUT INHIBITION, FEAR OR EXTERNAL CONTROL. AN ABILITY TO EXPLORE, TO LEARN AND GROW WITHOUT THE KINDS OF ADVERSITY THAT ONLY SEEK TO DEFEAT HUMAN LIBERTY.

FREEDOM IS THE ABSENCE OF RESTRICTION.

WE CAN NEVER TRULY ATTAIN, BUT ONLY TASTE OR STRIVE FOR.

SOMETHING WHICH

THIS IMAGE WAS TAKEN NOT LONG BEFORE WE LEFT THE EUROPEAN UNION!

FREEDOM TO ME IS THE RIGHT TO MIGRATION, THE RIGHT TO SAFETY FROM PERSECUTION FOR ALL PEOPLE AND THE RIGHT TO BE PART OF A BIGGER SKY!

THE ABILITY TO EARN ENOUGH TO KEEP MY CHILDREN SAFE, CLOTHED, FED AND HAPPY

FREEDOM IS POSSIBILITY, A STEP WITHOUT BEING HELD BACK

“Freedom to me as someone from the younger generations is to live without fear of society’s expectations. If it is through lgbt+ pride or defying set stereotypes. Through showing personal individuality and through what protesting online would look like to the eyes of those in real life. Showing determination to fight for change even under the circumstance of a global pandemic.”

“I see freedom as being allowed to do what you love doing to set a goal, a challenge to enjoy life and to explore. For example, for the target, I did a half marathon to calm my mind and reduce my anxiety in a relaxed and releasing way. I feel freedom is an opportunity in life to be who you want to be. I feel if we didn’t do hobbies that we love we wouldn’t be free and exist and everyone their own sense of freedom.”

“We might never be totally free from our inner conscious and subconscious constraints. But being free to choose with all the limits mentioned and many others, could be to choose, knowing at least that you will bear the consequences of your choice.”

RELAXATION WITHOUT THE CONTROL OF OTHERS AND THEIR THOUGHTS

NO NECESSITY TO HIDE BEHIND ANY SHADOWS

“Freedom to Molly Gibson means being free of constraint, Molly believes humans should be able to live without constraint, travel and emigrate to wherever they wish in the world. Molly Gibson’s photograph has boats in the background and the sea in the middle ground which symbolise travel and movement whilst the empty table and singular chair in the foreground represent one’s independence which Molly feels is the epitome of freedom.”

“This photograph was made in May 2020, as England was making plans to come out of the first COVID lockdown. It was a beautiful but strange Spring, as we were coming to grips with hitherto unprecedented restrictions on our freedom. I made this photograph in a local park – one of the few spaces which we were permitted to enjoy at the time. To me, it is about making the best of limited freedom and finding joy in the little things, like cool spray from a sprinkler on a warm sunny afternoon.”

To me, freedom represents movement. To be mobile from point A to point B, without facing obstacles and restrictions. I have chosen to represent my interpretation of ‘freedom’, through a photograph of birds. The flock of starling birds begin to embark on their journey of choreographing organic trails of movement. All of which vary and never repeat again. Freedom represents movement, it represents creativity.

THE POWER TO REALISE DREAMS

“The concept of freedom to me is mostly about boundless movement and flow and is connected to the element of water. freedom in my mind is holds the potentiality of transition both physically and spiritually without borders and obstacles.”

“Freedom is the ability to express discontent with the way the world is and to demand changes. This fundamental freedom is being repressed by a series of anti-protest laws as Government policy drifts further and further away from the values and beliefs of the majority of the population.”

“The image for the competition shows two transgender women sharing a kiss at speakers’ corner in Nottingham. They were there to protest against a group of women who were opposed to Trans women having the same rights as women. I think the image encapsulates my feelings towards freedom. I think freedom means we live in a society that allows us to treat all people with respect, regardless of age, gender, race, disability, religion, or sex. Some places do not allow its citizens to do this.”

“Freedom means to live life without limitations. To love ourselves unconditionally.

To find out what makes us happy and to enjoy the little things in life. Freedom comes in more forms than one.”

A SENSE OF HOPE, EQUALITY FOR ALL AND THE DESIRE OF A OPTIMISTIC FUTURE FOR HUMANITY DESPITE THE CHALLENGES WHICH LIE AHEAD.

CAN THERE BE A MORE SUCCINCT EXPRESSION OF FREEDOM THAN THAT OF FREE SPEECH? MY IMAGE REMOVES THIS GOD GIVEN RIGHT, DEPICTED IN A BRUTALIST STYLE.

FREEDOM TO ME MEANS THERE IS NO LIMITS

“A sense of freedom is seeing the world anew, such as appreciating the beauty within the ordinary and the everyday. I find the act of taking a photograph is a meditative experience, where the resulting image evokes a potent stillness from within the subject, where it has been freed from the obscuring noise and complications that we expect of everyday life. The universal opportunity (freedom) to prevent a fleeting moment from being lost forever has been seized in the photograph, but it is an individual freedom to recognise its place within our own lives. Freedom is an opportunity for both universal and individual realisation. It is a physical or abstract change of place from which many new paths can be travelled.”

“Prisoners sometimes shave one leg so as to feel the touch of another person in bed. Infused with personal references a self-portrait visually illustrates overwhelming emotions associated with segregation and absence of intimate contact during a period of limited social interaction. Allusive of ability to support legs hint on duplication of self, exemplifying effort of manufacturing companionship. Having reference to Jan van Eyck’s ‘Arnolfini Portrait’, the photo taken in my room confronts viewer as the element of domesticity contradicts with the stark appearance of a photographic record similar to a ‘mugshot’. Austere composition triggers a sense of instability derived from order, as skin texture intensifies intimacy revealing both similarity and dichotomy and the power to escalate loneliness and seclusion negotiating freedom from own self.”

TO JUST SIT AND BE.

TO EXIST WITHIN A FAMILY UNIT BUT TO REMAIN YOURSELF. TO BE SOMEONE’S WIFE, SOMEONE’S MUM BUT TO KNOW YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO BE YOURSELF AS WELL.

FREEDOM IS MY DAUGHTER’S SMILE AND THE SOUND OF HER LAUGH, FREE OF EXPECTATIONS AND SELF-DOUBT. FREE TO BE CONFIDENT, HAPPY AS PURE AS A LILLIE AS BEAUTIFUL AS A ROSE.

FREEDOM IS THE SENSE OF BEING ABLE TO FORM A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR EXPERIENCES THEN PLAY WITH THEIR PURPOSE. TO SEE THE WORLD AND BE CURIOUS WITHIN IT. TO SEE A PATH BUT NOT JUDGE THE STEPS AS YOU WALK.

ESCAPE? SPACE AND TIME TO THINK AND CREATE. NOT TAKING ANYTHING FOR

GRANTED, ESPECIALLY AT THE MOMENT.

THE HORIZON HAS NO CONSTRAINTS, NEVER STANDS STILL, IS ALWAYS PRESENT FOR EVERY PERSON DRAWING OUR GAZE, CALLING TO US TO IT. IT ACTS AS A CONDUCTOR MOVING POWER FROM ABOVE AND BELOW, OFF THE CENTRE, AWAKENING ALL LIVING BEINGS, BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT.

FREEDOM IS OFTEN SYNONYMOUS WITH HAPPINESS, SOMETIMES FREEDOM IS TAKEN AWAY FROM OTHERS OR BY OURSELVES. FOR SOME, HAVING TOO MUCH FREEDOM IS OVERWHELMING AND THE NEED FOR CONTROL TAKES OVER.

“Freedom is complex and guided by our imaginations. Looking out the window daydreaming conjures up wistful notions of freedom and adventures outside. In this image this wistful notion is upended, the viewers gaze is drawn towards the windows and glass stairwell of a building, perhaps the building is in a big city, perhaps it’s not. Windows vary in size, transparency, and opacity, they can transmit and reflect light making them conceptually compelling. Taking this photograph through a kaleidoscope blurs the boundary of the image adding complexity. Polemically windows operate to constrain us and protect us while often though not always offer us the freedom to view our surroundings. The image is curious in that it simultaneously evokes a romantic and haunting feeling but ultimately leaving our imaginations free to decide what is going on.”

“From the mid-1970’s ‘Free Festivals’ developed from people being fed up with the exploitation, rules, squalor and general rip-off that so many events and life in the inner city had come to represent. People began working out and managing relations within ‘our’ communities, without reference to ‘Them’. Living together, a community sharing possessions, listening to great music, making do, living with the environment, consuming their needs and little else. There is an African saying “that it takes a couple to have a child, but it takes a village to bring one up”. People looked at the various examples provided by gypsies here and in Europe. To nomadic people across the world. To try life outside the house in many different ways and to pick and select those means that make life comfortable, easy and meaningful. The ‘bender’, the Indian ‘tipi’, the Moroccan ‘yurt’, the Romany ‘bow top’, the western two-man tent, the truck and the double decker bus. The politics and the state have always opposed such ‘anarchistic’ gatherings. However, many felt that we should try to do much more for ourselves. Self-reliance. ‘DIY’ in fact. To think that freedom develops from shared concern for each other. Where bonds are stronger between people, tribe, and family, rather than remote political power.”

TOO LITTLE AND ALSO TO MUCH FREEDOM CAN BE VERY CHALLENGING

“The physical act of walking is my freedom. I never take it for granted as I have a parent with spina bifida, and realise it is a privilege to be able to move through the world comfortably. I started making these images at the beginning of the first Covid Lockdown when outside time was rationed and continued until things returned to some kind of normality in mid-2021. I didn’t leave my postcode during the making of them, and walking became an essential research method as well as a therapeutic undertaking. Not having to commute for three hours a day gave me time to walk, to think and to look with real intent at the place I used to rush through.”

“Freedom to me means the right to protest. We live under a government that is systematically removing a person’s right to take direct action and make a stand for what they believe in. The freedom to protest is at risk. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, which will give the government the power to disperse any protest that they deem “too noisy”, a decision clearly open to abuse. There is also a threat of making strike action illegal in essential services, thereby eliminating a major source of both protest, and the right to bargain for better pay and treatment. Recently, Conservative Party leadership candidates - those in line to be our next prime minister - have openly stated that they would ban strikes for essential workers. Without the right to strike and freedom to protest, we are left with no peaceful and effective means to affect change. As climate catastrophe deepens and the poverty gap widens, it is my fervent belief that protest will be an integral part of forcing the UK government to take positive action. For me, protesting is the sign of a free country and is something that should be both protected and cherished”

“Freedom is a perception of your mind. Someone can perceive freedom by being outside, while someone else can identify freedom by being inside. During lockdown, some people loved being at home and felt freedom, whilst others sensed they lost their freedom by being forced to stay at home.”

FREEDOM TO ME MEANS HUGE OPEN SPACES AND THE OPTION TO BEHAVE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING

I FEEL LIKE FREEDOM IS WHAT ALLOWS US TO BE OUR OWN PERSON WHETHER IN RACE, GENDER OR SEXUALITY WE HAVE FREEDOM TO EXPRESS OURSELVES AND REVEAL THE PERSON WE ARE INSIDE TO OTHERS

FREEDOM IS DECIDING WHAT YOU LOVE AND GOING OUT TO GET IT

“This is an image taken by a young person (Leo Karda) from the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This image is about overcoming shame, the taboos associated with menstruation and celebrating the body. It’s about growing up and maturity and not being bound by convention. Let the body be free. Let emotions flow. Allow us to bleed without shame and not hide our vulnerability. Embrace out wholeness and allow us to be human...again.”

“Freedom to me is pushing myself out of my comfort zone and overcoming barriers or limitations. Whether it be moving to the other side of the world, or seeking a promotion at work, it’s the power to make my own choices, take risks, make big decisions and the feeling that comes when it all pays off.”

FREEDOM IS GETTING WRAPPED IN THE SMELL OF A SUMMER FOREST

“Saoitse cainte” means freedom of expression in Irish. The freedom to be comfortable in your body, mind and soul without feeling the weight of societal pressures drag you down. Freedom to Stop the sexualising of women and their body’s, to have the power to except people for who they are.”

“‘Freedom’ falls into so many categories that it becomes very hard to explain what it truly means, and opinions will vary depending on how significant a subject is to someone. My direction with this image was to reflect the importance of Women’s rights and bodily autonomy. The right to choose what we do with our bodies is vital: our ‘Key to Freedom’.”

“Freedom is being able to open up your wings and fly, wherever you fancy whenever you want. Having the freedom to go where the wind takes you, knowing that you are free to do what you want without judgement”

“Freedom is to live life on my own terms. It is the ability to take care of me. I can travel in my life by myself and to make a pause whenever I want because I am independent to look up and down. Nothing is right or wrong in life, there are just some happy accidents to play with.”

TO ME, FREEDOM MEANS A SENSE

OF INNER

PEACE

AND BE IN A STATE OF PURE HAPPINESS WHERE YOU CAN FEEL IN HARMONY WITH YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND LIVE WITHOUT BORDERS.

FREEDOM ENCOMPASSES MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO

ME HOWEVER, BEING SURROUNDED BY NATURE, THE SOUND OF BEING IMMERSED IN GREENERY IS MEDITATIONAL AND ALLOWS ME TO FEEL FREE.

THE FREEDOM TO CREATE AND PRODUCE WHATEVER ONE WANTS WITHOUT FINANCIAL BOUNDARIES (BASIC INCOME). THE FREEDOM TO SPEAK AN OWN OPINION AND THE FREEDOM TO NOT BE CHASED BECAUSE OF WHAT A PERSON IS.

BEING ABLE TO BE WHO YOU ARE AND EXPRESS YOURSELF WITHOUT FEAR.

FREEDOM MEANS THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE, TO NOT FEEL CONSTRAINED

AND TO FEEL POSITIVE ABOUT WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING. I WANT TO GO THERE - OK I’LL GO THERE...

PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY FREE OR UNFREE THERE ARE GLIMPSES OF HOPE AND FREEDOM TO BE FOUND IN THE ESCAPISM OF CREATIVITY THIS IMAGE REFLECTS THESE THOUGHTS

“What do I get? What do you get? What do we get? To have more, to want more, to be more. The human drive to consume is powerful and we spend our lives trying to fill the void, fill the space, fill the time. There is no time for being. We always want more. How can we be free from the human ego? In this photograph the snails go about their business, leaving their slippery trail, leaving their mark, not driven by ego but by their nature and need for survival. What is our trail? Where is our path? Nature has a lot to teach us, yet we seem so oblivious to its teachings. An egoless path is the start of our journey to freedom.”

“While there are many vital freedoms that we can enjoy and that can be withheld from us, my work explores the freedom to access land and the relationships we can build in, and with, outdoor spaces. Although the pandemic has, in some ways, limited our freedom to access outdoor spaces, it has also provided an opportunity to revaluate our understanding of them, emphasising that they are more important now than ever. Whether they provide food, or simply a safe and nurturing place in which to spend time, these spaces are a crucial resource for both our physical and mental health. I aim to advocate for the spaces I photograph, but also to present a visual representation of my own experience of them. My hope is that others will find some of the beauty and tranquillity that I do.”

“The word ‘Freedom’ overwhelms me. Perhaps because it ceases or has never truly existed under Capitalism. So, my mind wandered towards and into the sea. But the sea is not free from Capitalism — it is soured, fragile, in decline. So, my mind wandered to the rock beneath the sea, slipping away into deep time. Somewhere below are sedimentary layers that precede human activity, human existence. These layers contain, for me, a freedom of sorts.

My photograph is of a rock face at the seas edge, somewhere along what we call the Pembrokeshire coastline. The image presents a negative — a lasting tidal impression. A hole that is being bored by waves, under moonlight and across cycles. But there is also a portal to be found here. One that can carry the human mind into a pre- or post-human existence. And I find that there is a silent relief in the endless boogie beyond our own time.”

“True freedom manifests in that moment of action, to have made the decision to act and to commit to your choice regardless of where it takes you. In that moment, for a split second you are truly free. Like the bird about to take flight, you only have the wide open sky and endless possibilities in front of you.”

“To me, Freedom means forming whatever kind of family you would like and the ability to love whoever you want. This image is of my younger sister holding a dollhouse that has been in our family for generations. It is part of a series that describes her experience of being adopted from Ethiopia into a German American family. Freedom means that she is a legitimate part of our family despite the racist reactions to her adoption from strangers and other relatives.”

“Freedom means having the choice to make my own decisions about my education, employment, family choices and lifestyle. Sometimes we need time to reflect that these freedoms and how integral they are to our society today. The poppy’s symbolism of remembrance engages with what was lost to achieve these freedoms that were hard won. And that countries and people still fight for today!”

“‘We wanna be free, we wanna be free to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time, and that’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna have a good time, we’re gonna have a party’ Loaded by Primal Scream (sample of Peter Fonda in Wild Angels 1966)”

“Fear of other people’s opinions often makes us perfectionists: we try to look, work, and live perfectly in order to avoid criticism, accusations or ridicule. Trying each time to understand whether the act will be approved by others, we are forced to limit ourselves. So ..... freedom means not to depend on someone else’s opinion.”

“Freedom is space - space to move and the ability to be not confined. This applies to body and mind, physical and mental. The place in the image represents a space that has its own freedom, to grow and change within the seasons (or cycle). Such a place is found when embarking on an act of exploration. Freedom is to explore with the mind, to move with the body and to find what you seek.”

THE FREEDOM TO GROW. TO BE FREE DOING THIS PROCESS. TO THINK AND BE AS YOU ARE. TO GROW INTO FREEDOM.

FREEDOM IS AN ABILITY, TO THINK AWAY FROM POPULAR THOUGHT, CONSTRAINTS, AND INFLUENCE.

PHOTOGRAPHIC FREEDOM IS THE FREEDOM FROM THE LENS AND REPRESENTATIONAL WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

I BELIEVE IT IS A QUIET VISION, FAR FROM OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. WHERE WE SPEAK TO OUR SOUL, LISTEN TO OUR INNER POETIC SOUND, AND REFLECT OUR INNER SELF INTO A PIECE OF MIRROR WHICH DOES NOT EVEN EXIST.

THE FEELING WHEN YOU REALISE THE WORLD IS THEIRS

“This photograph was taken during the height of lockdown. It depicts a child’s yearning for the freedom of the outside and the natural world.”

“Freedom is understood as the quality of being able to act, say or think as one wants, the absence of being constraint. It is interesting to consider how freedom can be seen, I feel that by being free it allows one to choose on how to act but cannot control how one feels or is seen. The image that I have submitted is about feeling free within constricted nature, within society there are restrictions, influences and things that can effect on what one does. ‘Deep in the woods’ explores the nature of feeling free within yourself in a confined space, the sharp branches flood in the image, showing no blank space while the individual is able to be placed there with bare skin, potentially being harmed by her surroundings. I believe that the definition of freedom is set to be understood through experience and time, I submit this work still not fully understanding what freedom can be defined as and whether we have freedom ourselves. However, I feel that my image explores how by allowing yourself to be free there is still the possibility of harm.”

“Freedom of expression. Freedom to be yourself. Freedom to be an LGBTQ+ person out and proud in the world. Freedom to live without fear. Freedom to do your thing.”

BEING ABLE TO TRAVEL THE WORLD

“It is a Freedom that must be torn down and confronted. Excerpt from my 2022 RCA Dissertation ‘A Contemplation of Representation and Self’: The traditional White Male hierarchy is being dismantled and destroyed. The image above is a nude self-portrait, it is an attempt to reflect upon what I am in the society that I’m in: I am a White Male, and when I comes to Freedom, this denomination for which I reside grants the upmost privileges and freedoms a person can have. After being (and still) on top for so long culturally, what does it feel like for that to start to be torn down? In the image above I am surrounded by land reclaimed by mother nature, once residing above a landscape of Modernism and Industry. I look towards the horizon line, I look towards what is to come, and am dissatisfied and threatened by what I see.”

“Internet (www) becomes a tools for tracking people, hunting privacy, controlling people’s free speech, media delivery and social life. The saying freedom in “boundaryless” online world turn into an invisible dictator means you are being controlled anywhere. What kind of “freedom” you have when people have no choice to live without internet. Fly with your Wings Without Web.”

“Freedom to me is to have my free will to a choose to be happy. To find my light within at any given challenge or situation of life and share it with others. I believe you can be influenced from outside and sometimes find yourself in dark places, but you are always free to make a choice within, here is always the source that will bring you towards the light, only if you seek for it.”

“Out on my bike on a summer’s day.”

FREEDOM IS BEING ABLE ROLL AROUND IN THE MUD WITHOUT BEING WORRIED ABOUT GETTING TOLD OFF

FREEDOM MEANS THE ABILITY TO WANDER WHERE LIFE TAKES ME WITH NO GATES OR LOCKS TO STOP ME

FREEDOM IS ABOVE

“Freedom is escaping from the city to the sea. I often find myself standing on a windswept beach staring at the waves. I could stare at it for hours. It terrifies me and fascinates me. It reminds me of the power of nature, the constance of the tides. I instantly feel grounded in that moment.”

“Not letting past struggles holding you back from achieving your future aspirations. This photo represents my friends struggle with her eating disorder and her finally releasing herself from her past rules and restrictions.”

“The freedom to protest and dissent in the face of injustice, is essential to a healthy society. It is essential to your own heart and wellbeing to speak up. The very basic freedom to be able to live, and to your full potential, is still not afforded to most people, and must be fought for. [Photo from Black Lives Matter Protest, Forest Recreation Ground // Nottingham 2020.]”

“I have a friend who doesn’t believe in free will, so I’ve debated the idea of freedom all the more since then. Much like confidence, feeling free is an act of rebellion. Though it is not always a choice given to us, for a mixture of reasons, the feeling of being free is something that exists in the mind, and is something we all deserve to feel and be in.”

“Freedom is about being able to make decisions, having choices. One might not be able to change their current circumstances, but with some imagination and daydreaming we can envision a better future, change ourselves in the here and now and start working towards that brighter vision.”

TO BE OUT

“Thoughts on Freedom: Holding hands with another man while walking down the street without having to think about who is watching us with hate in their hearts, calling us faggots. Not having to worry if someone might throw a bottle or if we might be ganged up on and be attacked. That would mean freedom to me. As a 53-year-old queer man living in the UK this level of freedom and peace is still something I’ve yet to experience. The Image: Early in my career as filmmaker I took on a side job as cinematographer and editor of gay adult films. Recently I discovered that I was still in possession of an old hard drive with some of the discarded video material. I began browsing through it, frame by frame, and started picking still photos, subverting the adult material from the crass and explicit into something subtle, evocative, aesthetically pleasing, shifting the focus from the middle of the action to the edges, the periphery, finding beauty in what is hinted at, not shown.”

“To me, freedom can be a state of mind. A feeling of not being weighed down by worries, overthinking, grief or trauma. Freedom can be gained through acceptance, resilience, and gratitude. To be free can mean different things to different people at various times in life. My photo is a capture of a painting I did during a time of grief. The act of painting makes me feel free and the image represents the determination to rise from sadness and use emotions to burst back in to feeling alive xx”

“To be able to walk around freely on the streets and in public spaces undisturbed without anyone making comments or pointing out our differences.”

“My photo is a literal representation of freedom for me. Freedom from a toxic situation and an opportunity to start again.”

“Being free to do whatever you want without pressure to conform to the expectations of others”

STOP. THINK. BREATH. EVERY SECOND MAKE TIME STAND STILL

FREEDOM IS THE CHOICE TO EXPRESS MYSELF HOW I WANT TO GO

WHERE I WANT AND HAVE AUTONOMY OVER MY TIME.

BEING ABLE TO ENJOY AND SHARE MY SURROUNDINGS WITH OTHERS. TO BE ABLE TO GO WHERE I PLEASE.