Never going back

"France likes to box people into categories": Martha Price (24) came in this bus from Presteigne, Powys in 1998, as one of a family of eight. She has set up and runs a riding school. Her boyfriend is French and she speaks French with her siblings. She will stay.

Rip Hopkins sent word about his latest book, Another Country, made of portraits of British people who moved to live in the French region of Dordogne.

Hopkins, a British-born who moved to France a long time ago and is currently living in Belgium, has created with this work the most amazing photographic mirror to look into himself through other people's lives.

I struggled a lot to find some adequate words to present his images here, but then I realized that what he wrote himself was the best possible introduction.

"I find myself behaving differently when speaking each language. In English, I am calmer than in French. I often catch myself suppressing emotions, whereas in French I let them go. Discussions in English tend to be pragmatic and an outcome is expected, while in French, issues tend to be abstract and I toy with ideas with no real conclusion in mind. Hence, I can be more British in English and more French in French."

(info about the book here)

"It doesn’t matter where you go, you always take yourself": Aaron Blond (47) came in 1986 from Norfolk. He previously worked with his father in the family publishing company and is now a builder. He doesn’t know whether he will go back.

Rip Hopkins mi ha scritto a proposito del suo ultimo libro, Another Country, ritratti di cittadini inglesi che hanno scelto di vivere nella regione di Dordogne in Francia.

Inglese trasferitosi in Francia molto tempo fa e attualmente residente in Belgio, con questo lavoro Hopkins ha creato lo specchio ideale per guardare dentro se stesso attraverso le vite di altre persone.

Ho cercato a lungo il modo migliore per presentare qui le sue immagini, poi ho capito che le sue stesse parole erano le migliori possibili.

"Mi rendo conto di comportarmi diversamente in base alla lingua che parlo. In inglese sono più calmo rispetto a quando parlo francese. Mi scopro spesso a reprimere delle emozioni, mentre in francese mi lascio più andare. Una discussione in inglese tende a esser più pragmatica e ci si aspetta un qualche esito, mentre in francese le questioni diventano più astratte e finisco a giocare con i miei pensieri senza una reale conclusione in mente. Posso essere più britannico usando l'inglese, e più francese parlando il francese."

(info sul libro qui)

"We stopped feeling invisible here": Suzanne Meek and Stephen Gerre (57) came from Longleat in Wiltshire in 1999. Suzanne is an interior designer and Stephen is a dealer in vintage clothes. Coco (5) is half Spaniel and half Setter, Hector (7) is a Pointer Cross. They might go back.

All images taken from Another Country © Rip Hopkins