The Boarders
UK 2018-2019

The photographic work 'The Boarders' deals with growing up in an exclusive community where the guiding values of tradition, achievement, prestige, and success shape a non-conventional childhood and youth. 'The Boarders' reflects modern society and its striving for perfectionism, functioning within the system and at the same time the desire to be something special. British boarding schools are intended to guarantee privileged pupils the best possible education and preparation for their future lives. For the children, boarding schools are a home; unlike most adolescents who live with their families, the boarders call boarding school their home, and live among their peers in exclusive communities that are shaped by pressure to perform and external expectations.

'The Boarders' explores how the guiding values of tradition, cohesion, prestige, and success exert themselves on pupils within this unique educational system. The pupils, who have been portrayed in their everyday surroundings on the school grounds of various boarding schools in Great Britain, present themselves as they want to be seen. They appear serious and focused whilst giving the impression that they are already prepared for adult life.
It is up to the viewer to make his or her own thoughts about this: Where is the behavior imposed by the boarding school and where can we recognize youthful individuality?