For its contribution to Our Freedom: Then and Now, Watermans commissioned London‑based Polish artist and ethnographer Anna Jochymek to work with Polish migrant women.

Twenty large‑format photographic portraits and stories were created as part of conversations with women who were either based in, or connected to, the London Borough of Hounslow.

During their photographic sessions with Anna Jochymek, the women shared details of their journeys, challenges, and what has empowered them as women and migrants in the UK. The resulting photographs and testimonies helped create a powerful portrait of the local community, exploring what freedom means to women today through their own words, histories, and identities.

The exhibition of portraits and stories, Free.Her, was presented in two outdoor locations: Brentford Market Place on Friday 24 October (10am – 5pm) and Bell Square, Hounslow on Saturday 25 October (11am – 5pm).

The presentation at Bell Square included a special event to celebrate the project, inviting all the participants as well as guests from Hounslow Council. The event was filmed and photographed by Sim Mondair.

Audience responses at Bell Square reflected on the impact of the work, with one visitor sharing, “I’m a migrant, I’m not Polish, but I see so much in these stories, it’s my experience, too,” while another commented, “The stories are beautiful, really moving, they’re tough stories, you can read that, but they’re still positive and that’s really quite uplifting.”

From 3 – 20 February 2026 the exhibition was also presented at Gunnersbury Park Museum, where it will be included in the Gunnersbury Park Museum Archive.

Extract from one of the interviews: ‘Agata’ What does freedom mean to me?

“I am free. I was always free, really. It’s just that at some point someone put my freedom in a box and pushed it really deep down. Hide it deep from me. The English are proud of inclusivity and diversity. There’s no pointing fingers. Children with disabilities aren’t pointed at. They just live normally. Here, freedom is for everyone. I’m putting off my plans to go back to Poland for now, because I’m still going to be a truck driver!”