26/02/2023
‘The History of Passports' is a zine exposing the inequity of passports and their hidden commercial market. Before the first world war, a passport was not essential to travel abroad. A passport was primarily intended to act as a "letter of recommendation" rather than as a means of identifying the bearer.
A border passport requirement was introduced by European governments during World War I to increase security. The purpose of passports has changed from recommendations to protect authenticity by recording identity and nationality.
Nowadays depending on where you are from and where your passport was issued, it determines how easy it is to travel around the world. People are dehumanised within a passport’s pages and deprived of their individuality and humanity.