From Home to Home
“Together, we created the publication From Home to Home, exploring the experiences of five women, each from a different diaspora, through archival and contemporary photographs and stories. It frames home not as a fixed or singular idea, but as an ongoing, collective conversation. From Home to Home contributes to a wider dialogue on belonging, visibility and the evolving fabric of one of the world’s most diverse cities — London.”
The Develop Collective is part of The Photographers’ Gallery’s youth programme bringing together Chandni Raithatha, Demelza Okwan, Tati El Mallah, Jasmine Sandhu and Soumia Sadoun as part of the 2026 cohort.
Home, in one word to you?
Chandni
What was the moment or conversation that made you realise this book needed to exist?
Soumia: It was our first conversation at the gallery. We were discussing our interests, motivations and practices, and everything just aligned. We recognised a pattern within our conversations of upbringings, communities and lives that we recognised as ‘home’. We simultaneously discussed a shared experience despite having never met before. That unified experience made us recognise the importance of this conversation and spotlighting our ‘homes’ as 5 women of diasporic heritage in London. ‘From home to home’ existence starts as a conversation that we wish for others to continue.
Tati: I don’t think that this book's existence needs to be predicated on a gap or a lack. We are young brown and black women and we exist in the world, we wanted people to see what that existence looks like and hopefully see their own reflected.
Demelza
The project arrives at a time of rising anti-immigration sentiment. Does this climate shape the way you framed it, or the tone you wanted?
Chandni: That climate gave From Home to Home a real sense of urgency, but we didn’t want it to dictate the tone. Rather than responding to division with more division, we focused on something universal: the idea of home. We wanted the stories to speak for themselves and remind people of the humanity, individuality and sense of belonging behind conversations about immigration.
Jasmine: Our publication was made by global majority artists for global majority audiences, and whilst we considered the wider audience we did not not want to tailor our work to them. The considered approach of delicate, intimate portrayals of families and generations affected by migration is an inherent opposition to anti-immigration sentiments. Through the making of this book, we had the space to connect with our personal stories and families archives, as well as with each other, and that human connection is what shaped From Home to Home
Soumia
What do you hope a reader takes away from this publication?
Jasmine: I hope the reader feels a sense of home and comfort, I hope people can recognise parts of their own lives in the book and feel a connection to a wider diasporic community.
Demelza: I hope readers come away feeling encouraged to reflect on and appreciate their own stories. I hope the publication creates a sense of safety, belonging, and pride, especially for those from the diaspora who may not have access to family archives in this way. We hoped for families with histories of migration to feel celebrated and for those who lost their memories through the act of moving to see themselves in the book too.
Chandni: For me, one of the most important things is showing that although we come from different cultures and have different stories, there’s so much that connects us. I want someone to look through From Home to Home and see themselves reflected in the images and feel that their experiences are worth documenting.
Tati
Jasmine
Chandni Raithatha is a photographer and archivist from London who is interested in the ways we document, preserve and share stories of identity, memory and belonging.
Demelza Okwan is a British-Ghanaian photographer, writer and artist born and raised in London.
Tati El Mallah is a photographer, educator and social practitioner working around themes of migration, identity and diaspora.
Jasmine Sandhu is a freelance photographer from London who often explores themes of memory and family, with analogue processes at the centre of her work.
Soumia Sadoun is an architect in training and multidisciplinary practitioner, who explores cultural preservation and community through film photography, collage and the built environment.
