'I Am a Stranger in This Country' von Frederik Rüegger - a documentary reflection on life at the edges of society

At the heart of Frederik Rüegger’s photographic series are the Traveller communities of Ireland and the UK—a minority that often feels like outsiders in their own country.

This sense of exclusion and cultural isolation accompanied Rüegger throughout his two-year journey into the community. The result is a multi-layered, sensitive body of work that reveals both the beauty and the vulnerability of a culture under threat. His photographs were taken at places where the Traveller community still comes together to keep their traditions alive - most notably at horse fairs, which continue to play a central role in their cultural identity. The series documents a life lived between deep-rooted pride and ongoing social marginalization.

Discrimination against Travellers has increased significantly in recent years - driven by political developments such as Brexit, as well as the growing spread of hate and misinformation on social media. Local authorities in many areas have begun to actively restrict the community’s traditional right to settle on shared land. These legal and societal pressures now pose a serious threat to their freedom and way of life.

Born in Worms, Germany in 1993, Frederik Rüegger spent several years working as a model in New York, where his interest gradually shifted toward documentary photography. He now lives and works in Berlin. His project I Am a Stranger in This Country was created as his graduation work at the Ostkreuz School of Photography and has already received multiple honors—including finalist status for the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize and the Sony World Photography Awards.

British photography critic Gerry Badger on the work: "His vibrant, complex images capture all the excitement and social interaction in the country towns where Travellers traditionally meet — to display and trade horses — but also to engage in a wide range of cultural activities, including selling other goods and making music together. He was inspired, as a boxing enthusiast, by the fact that heavyweight Tyson Fury is a Roma — creating a wish to document a whole way of life that is under threat from both changes in contemporary society and prejudice in a post-Brexit nationalist Britain."

The book is published by Kehrer Verlag. You can meet the renowned photobook publisher at the Rencontres d’Arles 2025. To mark the opening week of the festival, Kehrer warmly invites visitors to its pop-up bookshop at the Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation, located in the heart of Arles. Guests can browse a carefully curated selection of new releases, rare editions, and bestsellers. In addition, several artists will be on-site to sign their books. Frederik Rüegger will be signing his book 'I Am a Stranger in This Country' on Tuesday, July 8.