Elvira and Me

Elvira and Me is a book offering an intimate and collaborative photographic exploration of the life of one young female Romanian migrant living in Manchester, which aims to subvert and challenge the common stereotypes of Roma people within photography and journalism.

Her family in Romania call her Elvira but in England she is know by the name on her passport, Ramona. The book documents her experiences in the UK and follows her back to her home in southern Romania for her first visit since moving to the UK in 2009. It tells Ramona’s story in her own words and gives an insight into her thoughts and feelings as a young Roma woman living in the UK.

Elvira and Me is co-produced by Ciara Leeming and Ramona Constantin. Ciara is a journalist and photographer whose coverage of the Roma experience has been published in Big Issue North, Times Educational Supplement and The Guardian. Ramona is a Roma woman living in Longsight. She is a former Big Issue North vendor and now works as an outreach worker in Longsight.

Elvira and Me is written in both English and Romanian, and was produced with support from Big Issue North Trust.