Thursday 5 May 2011

Child poverty photography project

I have mentioned before that we are being supported by the Beatrice Webb Memorial Trust to conduct a photography project across the whole North East asking 100 children and young people in each local authority to take photographs that illustrate what poverty means where they live. We have been piloting the concept in some of our own projects this month ahead of rolling it out across all 12 local authorities in June and July.

The two images below are from a series taken by one young woman. A recent survey of residents in this area of Newcastle found that they were generally happy with the neighbourhood, they found it friendly and safe. The photographs show how the physical area makes the photographer feel.
Cheap food Junk and Disorderly
The pictures are about junk, disorder, cheapness, secondhand and second rate, poor quality, scrap, trash. Hard to maintain aspirations among all that. WEYES is in this area, it's very appearance says 'quality', an investment in young people's futures.

If other children and young people produce such eloquent images they will provide a moving insight into what poverty does to young minds.

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