Borderlands: The Edges of Europe

photographer: Paola Leonardi

“Borderlands: The Edges of Europe” is a collection of analogue photographs representing the people and places along the borders of the European Union, developed with the purpose of creating an archive of images narrating life at the edges of Europe. Since 2012 Leonardi has photographed along the land borders of the European Union, following methodically the boundaries traced on maps, she has built up a distinctive experience of the European frontier that includes unplanned encounters with its inhabitants.

This series focuses on the connection between people and territory and the significance of trans-national and transcultural identities, exploring the relevance of European identity and its relationship with concepts of home and belonging, memory and territory and how these have been shaped by events.