27 countries, 27 photographers: This poster project aims to get more people voting in the EU elections

Last June, the European elections took place. The vote sees residents of the 27 countries who are part of the EU have their say on who will represent them in the European parliament. But, as votes go, it’s not one with a particularly high turnout. This fact is one that concerned the photographer Clara Nebeling, especially with how much politics has changed across Europe in the last five years, and the worrying rise of the far right. And so, Clara collaborated with other photographers – 27 across the 27 countries in the EU, to be exact – to create a series of free-to-download posters pushing people to organise, and get their slips into the ballot box.

United We Vote is a continuation of a similar project Clara initiated for the last European elections in 2019. She was compelled to start something after learning of how low youth turnout was in the elections, and she put this in part down to how much imagery in the political sphere was directed at older demographics. Alongside some of her creative colleagues, Clara created a campaign that aimed to get young people hanging up posters in their local community. This time round, while working with a similar model, Clara wanted the project to target everyone, trying to create force in numbers against extreme views.

Selecting and reaching out to the 27 photographers was “as much of a challenge as it was fun”, says Clara. Some were friends of Clara’s, and others were those whose work she had admired from afar, but didn’t know; the only imperative was for there to be “a mix of many styles and genres that complement each other”.

It’s interesting to see how the different contributors have responded to the brief. Some have centred people; Emma Sarpaniemi’s image of two people creating a love heart with their arms satisfyingly fits the EU star logo superimposed on top, and David Uzochukwu’s image of a figure lying in a body of water evokes a sense of calm. Others have gone for animals, Wendy Huynh opting for a single goldfish, and Zlatimir Arakliev shows two dogs with mouths locked in play (or fight). Yet Thomas Albdorf and Matilde Cunha have picked nature, though both adding an abstract twist. Clara herself chose an image of a yawning child, to reflect how the decisions we make today will affect the generations of the future.

At the core of the project is the mission to put the material in the hands of people. “We didn’t want to do a top to bottom approach where you try to enforce a message on people, I don’t think that is how you make people think about your cause,” says Clara. “You want people to understand it and be active in their own realm, think about the topic themselves and then take action that suits their strength and community.” This is facilitated by the Walking Home website, which allows users to pick an image from the selection of 27 (or even use one of their own), add the poster graphics, which includes the EU logo – with a number of colours schemes to choose from – and choose the language for the text to be written in (with typefaces donated by Dinamo), then download for sharing online or printing. Clara sees the ability to print and put up the poster (something the initiative encourages) circumvents some issues of today, namely people being tired of screens and seeking tangible action – “real connection happens on the streets”, she says.

“Great learnings” have come from both campaigns, Clara says, like how to manage, how to foster collaboration and how to find motivation outside of money. But the biggest learning has come from the loss of Katherina Kemmler, founder of the agency Kemmler Kemmler who first helped it get off the ground. “Both Katharina and I shared a common passion to think of creativity in collective terms, and now her memory stays with me and challenges me to be more courageous.” Now, Clara has hopes of expanding the Walking Home site into other branches of social creativity, and collaborating with other creatives on a similar mission. Feel free to reach out to Clara if you have any ideas.