Â
VOICES An exhibition of participatory photography toured by the Photographic Angle in collaboration with PhotoVoice
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ANGLE & PHOTOVOICE
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ANGLE
This exhibi)on en)tled Voices introduces four projects established by the charity PhotoVoice since 2008. TPA will be con)nuing to collaborate with PhotoVoice in the future, offering exhibi)on space to the emo)ve and transforma)ve work they help create. How We See It (2010) -‐ How We See It is a collec)on of photographs by young people in inner-‐city London. In this exhibi)on they represent themselves through photography to challenge stereotypes they face day-‐to-‐ day. Lookout London (2011) -‐ A group of young people living in assisted housing in Homerton explore the issues of gang culture and knife crime through photography. As David Cameron talked about ‘declaring war on gangs’ and the public looked for simple targets to blame for the criminal ac)vity that took place during the spree of rio)ng and loo)ng last August, the nega)ve image of young people in Britain reached an unprecedented peak. PhotoVoice, in partnership with the supported housing charity Chapter 1, has been working with two groups of young people whose social backgrounds and where they live puts them squarely in the firing line of much of the nega)ve stereotyping and scaremongering about young people being dangerous, irresponsible and an)-‐social elements of London society. These young people are constantly surrounded by, and affected by, the issues that they are too oSen represented as causing, damaging any aTempts to improve the situa)on on the streets. See It Our Way (2010-‐2011) -‐ Young people in communi)es affected by human trafficking photograph their view of local issues to feed into an advocacy campaign seeking to reduce child exploita)on. Human trafficking is one of the most prevalent human rights issues in the world today. It is a trade in humans -‐ modern day slavery -‐ and can take many forms. Youth from the See it Our Way project live in communi)es that are source, transit and des)na)on communi)es for human trafficking across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Photographs taken by youths from Albania, Armenia, Romania and Pakistan in several photography workshops reveal ground-‐level issues from the unique, inside perspec)ve of those young people par)cularly vulnerable to trafficking. The training has enabled these at-‐risk young people to consider the issues more carefully cover image Money ©Bianca Tennant: Money don’t just change you, it changes the people around you.
www.thephotographicangle.co.uk
themselves, while playing an ac)ve role in informing and guiding peers in their communi)es who are also at risk of falling prey to traffickers. Their work is informing future preven)on and campaign ac)vi)es by local World Vision teams and partners. Sights Unseen (2009-‐2010) -‐ Sights Unseen shows the sensory photography of a group of blind and visually impaired people from the UK, China and Mexico. The work has been created in partnership with Sight of Emo)on (Mexico), the Organisa)on of Blind Africans and Caribbeans (OBAC, London) and One-‐Plus-‐One (China). The use of photography as a tool for blind and visually impaired communi)es enables them self expression whilst tackling social and communica)on barriers. The PhotoVoice-‐run workshops empower them with the skills and tools they need to influence decision makers and public awareness of the issues close to their hearts, and overcome barriers that prevent them from becoming ac)ve members of the community. UR In the Picture (2008-‐2009) -‐ UR In the Picture is a collec)on of photographs by adults with mental health needs in the UK. From October 2008 -‐ August 2009, PhotoVoice ran weekly one-‐day workshops with three groups of mental health service users. The workshops brought together users of a variety of service providers, all of whom were taught to use the camera as a tool to explore their own lives and to express the things that are important to them, to each other, their loved ones and to the wider public. The work produced is of an incredible quality, and the colourful diversity of subjects chosen by the photographers is in itself a challenge to widespread misconcep)ons about those with mental health needs. There are powerful messages about the challenges faced by the photographers and their thoughts A selec)on of photographs from this exhibi)on will be on show in each gallery. Please visit our website for further informa)on. or email: info@thephotographicangle.co.uk
©Jacqueline Opoku
VOI CE S
registered charity number: 1135750