Anh Phuong Tran
Stranger In The City, 2021
I am an International Student. I was born and raised in Vietnam. I experienced a different environment and culture growing up. When I was in Vietnam I heard many stories about migration. I thought that those who could afford to go abroad to live, study, and work were extremely lucky. I was envious of their ability to do this.
It was only once I had arrived in the UK that I realised they were not wealthy as I had imagined. Many had been through the toughest and most journey of their life. Then on 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people, 29 men, 2 boys, and 8 women, were found in a lorry in Essex, and stories began to emerge about modern slavery and Vietnamese migration. In this work I am trying to give a sense of the migratory experience from Vietnam and show an example that does not fit the nail salon stereotype so often portrayed after this tragic event.
The project is called Stranger In The City. It is a short film with a portrait series of Vietnamese migrants who have been given leave to remain in the UK under refugee status. The film is a real story, told by a migrant who spent 4 months crossing borders just to start a new life in the UK. It is just one of the many stories. There are many more, many with worse journeys and many still hiding in the shadows.
Stranger In The City
“It wasn’t easy at all, being far from the one you love, to start everything new in a place you don’t even know. Can I speak English at first? No, it was a real struggle. I was more than happy seeing my people, it feels like home. But I don’t regret my decision, I came here to start fresh, I came here because I care about my family.”