‘Descendants of Summer’ explores identity, belonging and historical reckoning in Bermuda through portraiture, landscape, archives and oral history. Rooted in personal connection and collaborative research, Nicola Muirhead examines how colonialism and slavery continue to shape the island’s present.

Bermuda, a small archipelago in the mid-Atlantic, is often imagined as a picturesque escape. For Muirhead, it is also home, memory and inheritance. As a Bermudian documentary photographer, she is drawn to the quieter truths embedded in the island’s landscape, the memories carried across generations and the enduring imprint of colonialism on a place that holds history in its bones.

The title ‘Descendants of Summer’ refers to Bermuda’s earliest colonial name, the Summer Isles, while also evoking the warmth of home and the haunting legacy of empire. Bermuda became the first British colony to legalise slavery in 1616, and that history continues to shape the island’s social fabric through intergenerational trauma, fractured identities and questions of belonging.

Through portraiture, landscape, archival material and oral histories, Muirhead works in collaboration with elders, historians, cultural groups and institutions to reclaim and preserve narratives that have long been marginalised or softened. At its core, the project is both an act of love for community and a wider reflection on how colonial histories continue to shape the present.

Artist Bio

Nicola Muirhead is an award-winning documentary photographer and visual storyteller from Bermuda. Her practice is rooted in investigating how history informs the present and shapes current realities.

Her projects are research-led and collaborative, with a strong emphasis on engagement with individuals and communities. She draws on expert knowledge and lived testimony to build grounded and authentic narratives. Muirhead holds a Master’s degree in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism from the University of the Arts London and a PGCert in Higher Education. She is a member of Women Photograph, and her work has been published by the BBC, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine and The Washington Post.