Mutiny

Mutiny is an exploration of the growing economic divide in the United Kingdom, highlighting the social and economic fractures that challenge the idea of a "united" United Kingdom.

In 2017 photographer Merlin Daleman embarked on a journey through the economic North of the UK. Originally from the West Midlands, Daleman has lived in the Netherlands for most of his adult life. Driven by curiosity to understand the divisions in the UK made evident in the 2016 referendum, he returned to photograph the previously familiar with the eyes of an outsider. Daleman visited over 60 towns and cities from Aberdeen to Bangor, Blackpool to Belfast, and from Fife to Skegness. The photographs give the impression of Daleman as an observer, moving quickly and unobtrusively on foot through the streets. The images show the urban infrastructure of boarded-up shopfronts and rainy streets, canals and bright seafront businesses. The people captured as Daleman passes through are often shown demonstrating their humor, warmth, fortitude and community.

The book’s essay by journalist Niels Posthumus draws upon an interview with Philip McCann, an economic geographer at the University of Manchester, and states that hardly any other European country experiences such a stark geographical divide between rich and poor as the UK. The economy of London—where national policy is formed—is larger than the economies of the next fourteen largest British cities combined. A sense of disparity and disenfranchisement felt by many in the economic North is confirmed by economics. It is against this backdrop that the Leave campaign thrived and many staged a ‘mutiny’.

Merlin Daleman (b.1977) lives and works in the Netherlands. He works as a freelance documentary photographer for leading Dutch publications, including NRC Handelsblad and Financieel Dagblad. He is the recipient of awards including the Silver Camera awards for Documentary Photography in the Netherlands in 2008 and 2010.