Earlier this year, the RAF paired four of its rising talents with four of the best young visual artists working in the UK right now to paint a never-before-seen look at life inside the RAF.
The project – 'My Two Homes' – followed young RAF professionals working in a variety of fields and documented their lives at home and on base. The result is an intimate look at an often misunderstood world, shining a light on the diversity, training, and global travel opportunities that the RAF can present to the next generation.
Photographer Nina Manandhar was one of the artists working to create ‘My Two Homes’ and she was paired with Elloise, a sneaker collector who found her calling as a corporal for the RAF Police.
We spoke to Nina to break down the project and find out what it was like to go inside a world that so few people ever get to see.
To find out more about life in the RAF and to register your interest in joining, visit raf.mod.uk.
Complex: Your previous documentary portraiture has covered an unseen side of the military with your Ghurkas project. What was your initial reaction to the RAF project?
Nina: I was definitely intrigued. With the Ghurkas project, I’m actually half Nepalese and although my dad was never a Ghurka, there’s a big connection to that movement within the Nepalese people – a lot of them in the UK come from Ghurka families. I was intrigued to find out more about the RAF and really wanted to get on an RAF base! That’s what I was most looking forward to. I think it made sense that the RAF wanted to get a diverse range of personnel involved, and I was interested in finding out more about the individuals that I’d be working with. My boyfriend’s dad was actually in the RAF and he told me loads of stories about it, and this idea that you could have two homes was a really interesting idea.
What were the themes and key messages you wanted to bring to life in your shots?
I’m pretty nosey and I love going into people’s homes and finding out more about where they come from! I wanted to spend time with Elloise at home and in her neighbourhood, to really find out where she was from...I wanted to find out why a young woman would join the RAF. I got to understand that more from spending time with her – I found out what her values were and why the RAF was a really appealing option for her.
How would you describe your style of photography and what do you think it brought to this RAF project?
I think I always try to be invisible and visible at the same time. It’s nice to build a rapport with your subject and get them to a level of comfort where they can be themselves in your presence – Elloise was really good at that. She was super comfortable and confident in front of the camera, but she was never posing – she was always being herself. She let me into her world in a short space of time – it was only a two day shoot, which is a short time to get to know someone!
What was it about Elloise’s story that you were drawn to?
I think it’s interesting that her grandfather is Jamaican and health and fitness seems to be a big thing for her family – her dad is a personal trainer and we spent some time photographing them exercising in their garden, before walking the dog and you can see how a life in the RAF might appeal when you combine her family’s fondness for fitness and travel. It was all about telling the story of her personal and family life, and how that translated to life in the RAF.
What was your perception about life in the RAF for a young person before you started working with Elloise?
I guess I had a perception about the kind of person that might want to go and work in the RAF and Elloise broke down some of that. I thought it would be more gung-ho military people who were just really interested in planes, but that’s not the case at all! There’s so much more focus about being interested in people and wanting to be part of a strong community.
There was a real sense of home and everydayness in the RAF that I didn’t expect and it’s just like a normal job. There’s obviously an element of responsibility and excitement with the planes and everything else, but it’s also very normal.
Did working this closely with Elloise open your eyes to what working in the RAF might be like? Did it change your preconceptions?
Yeah 100%. It made me think a lot – I met other personnel from the RAF while I was there and got talking to them and took a lot from that. I got the impression that the RAF was changing and there’s opportunities there for anyone who wants it.
What emotions and moments in Elloise’s life did you want to capture in this project?
It was all about emotional engagement and iconic scenes. I wanted to get Elloise being close with her family, but I also wanted to see her in a uniform and being an active part of this iconic organisation. Also how often do you get to see inside an RAF base? Not very often, so I wanted to make the most of that – capturing the details there and the small things that make it seem real, not a stereotype.
Was it cool for you to see just how in touch with her home life Elloise still is?
Yeah and she was so close to her family home, but she definitely had a home at base too. And in much wider terms, we never only have one identity do we? We have different versions of ourselves that we bring to our family, our friends, our work...the ‘Two Homes’ idea is very real and this project really brought that idea to life.
It looks like you went on to an RAF base to shoot part of this project, what was the vibe like on base?
Elloise is a police officer in the RAF and we were at the police headquarters so we got to explore the base, see people training, worked out at the gym...it was stuff you would expect but also things like people just hanging out with their dogs, very normal stuff! It’s such an everyday place and that was probably the most interesting thing.
Do you have a favourite photo or moment from working with Elloise?
I think my favourite is the one where she’s in the corridor of the base and she just looks really proud and confident! I also love the shots of her with her grandfather at home, which were the first shots we actually took. Those shots gave us a real sense of his pride in Elloise, and the special connection they share.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from this experience?
I guess it’s that stereotypes about people in the RAF are exactly that, they’re just stereotypes. They’re just everyday people who have all the qualities we do and I’m proud to have been able to break down those stereotypes a little bit.
To find out more about life in the RAF and to register your interest in joining, visit raf.mod.uk.
