Since leaving full time higher education in 1997, I have devoted a large part of my time to informal education in youth and community centres that are situated in inner city Manchester. It is in this area that I helped to develop an innovative gallery education programme for young people in Manchester's Regeneration Areas. The young people learned many skills including traditional photographic techniques such as pinhole photography and photograms. Watching the faces of young people light up when they experienced the magic of conventional photographic techniques brought back the memories of my first experiences and the euphoric sense of achievement that they were now experiencing. The photographic and digital imaging work that we produced was an amalgamation of skills and creativity that both the students and I worked on together. The work that we created was then exhibited in either a non-formal or a formal gallery environment. Learning was a two way process. Young people gained skills in photography, computers and the arts, plus the experience of exhibiting their work to the wider public.
  

Big Arts Day was a national arts day where artists of all disciplines voluntarily offered their skills to schools. I worked at St. James Primary school over a three week period. On the first day, I worked with every pupil in the school, teaching them about the artist Pablo Picasso and other visual artists that had worked photo-montage. Using scissors, glue and plenty of celebrity magazines, pupils got to make a collage of their very own, in the style of Pablo Picasso. The children had lots of fun piecing the eyes of James Bond onto the face of Mr. Bean, an oversized nose onto a smaller face. The resultant images produced from each class were absolutely amazing. Then, working with year six only, each pupil had a go at using a professional camera and portable studio equipment. Year six pupils photographed a part of every pupil in the school, a hand, an ear, an eye etc. Each pupil contributed to five life size collages, one for each year in the school. These were finally exhibited within the school. The event was publicised locally and nationally via local newspapers and the official Big Arts Day web site. The school held an open day to which parents and governors were invited. The event was a major success.
 

Inter School Exhibition, December 2004 - January 2005
Photography, Digital Arts, Design, and Writing exhibition at Central Library, Manchester.

The work of six local primary schools culminated in an exhibition at Central Library. I worked with another artist to photograph various projects that were taking place in and around Manchester. We also created several photographic montages from the photographic work. Our partnership helped to bring together and edit the artwork produced by these schools. We also worked as a team to curate the exhibition. Our contribution included photographing, imaging and setting typographical elements over a six-month period, which was finally shown as a large-scale exhibition at the Library Theatre Company in Central Manchester.
 

Gorton Monastery Project, Part 2. February 2005
Manchester Metropolitan University Students and Manchester Settlement Excluded Young People Project. Collaborative Exhibition at the Prometheus Centre of Excellence, Didsbury Campus, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Dr. Eric Northey and I delivered and curated this 'pure photographic' exhibition. Dr. Northey, a senior lecturer had worked with several final year degree students on various techniques in photography whilst I worked with excluded young people from East Manchester. The degree students produced some extremely moving and powerful images. Juxtaposed alongside these were the photographs produced by the young people and I. The images that we produced were extremely powerful. The exhibition paid justice to one of the most beautiful landmarks in East Manchester.

 

East Manchester Works, May 2004 - August 2004
Photography, Digital Arts, Design and Painting Exhibition                                                    The Museum Of Science of Industry – Manchester.

This exhibition started in May of 2004 at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. The work was the culmination of a joint painting, photography, and digital imaging project organised by the Museum of Science and Industry. Various artists had worked within schools and other centres, which cater for excluded young people in and around the East Manchester Area. The exhibition participants were local people from within the East Manchester area, including the oldest living woman from Clayton. These participants told stories from their perspective and were translated through a variety of media including painting, photography, and digital imaging. The theme of the part of the exhibition that I managed was to use photography and digital imaging with young people so that we could replicate a typical family day out in East Manchester during the 1950's. We used a variety of props and varied organisations let us use authentic items, such as a bus from the transport museum and an authentic 1950's kitchen from within the Museum of Science and Industry. Actors and children were photographed in clothing reminiscent of the era. The photographs were then digitally enhanced. The photograph above is just a small sample of the work the young people and I created. Working with young people from East Manchester, we created a documentary and creative visualisation about some of the history of East Manchester to the present day.

Besides having the high profile exhibition, the production of a book complemented the artwork. The theme of the book was local history. The young people that I worked with also produced postcards from the photographs that we had taken of the local area. These postcards were used to publicise the event.


Gorton Monastery Project, Part 1, May 2004 - August 2004
Photography Exhibition at the Library Theatre Company - Manchester.

This exhibition started in May this year at the Library Theatre Company situated in the main Central Library complex in central Manchester. The photographic exhibition shows the collaborative work of several young photographers and me. Alongside youth workers, the young people worked with me and learned skills in both photography and digital imaging, all the way through the academic year. We worked jointly on photographing one of the most beautiful landmarks in East Manchester, namely Gorton Monastery. The monastery was in a ghastly condition when we photographed the interior and exterior. It has since been renovated and is one of the jewels of Manchester. These young people have worked collaboratively with me in the creation of professional photographs, publicising the event and have learned how to curate an exhibition. These young people were considered 'excluded' because of bad behaviour. One would have never thought that was the case though, they are a shining example of what young people can accomplish given the appropriate resources and direction.

 

Transmission: 31st May 2002 - 14th June 2002
International Contemporary Art Exhibition. Zion Arts Centre, Moss Side. Zimbabwe, Moss Side and Hulme.

In 2002, I was commissioned by LIME to work with a group of young people on a safe sex project. I was the photography and digital arts workshop leader for the participating young artists in Moss Side. The Transmission project was an international collaboration between young people (trainee artists) and artists to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, safe sex, and sickle cell thalassaemia through the arts. I worked with these young people on a creative photography, digital imaging, and advertising project. Our aim was to produce a series of creative photographs, manipulate these, and add informative text to them so that they functioned as advertisements for safe sex. We looked at the role of advertising in preventative healthcare, discussing how these existing adverts worked. The young artists gained some inspiration for their own creations by acquiring an understanding of existing healthcare advertisements from within the public domain. We also studied the use of straplines in different types of adverts. Young people were taught how to use photographic studio equipment We then looked at alternative �well known� straplines that had the potential for use in our 'campaign'. Together, the young people and I produced approximately twenty adverts promoting safe sex. The image on the right is just one example. It is a montage of two separate images. The strapline that was used for this image� well, I am sure you can guess where it came from. It is a very commanding advertisement that promotes a high moral standing amongst young people, respect for the opposite sex, and obviously, safe sex!
 

Boggart Hole Clough: 16th Feb 2002 - 31st March 2002
Past, Present Future: Photography & Digital Arts Exhibition at Central Library, Manchester City Centre.

Prior to this exhibition taking place, a group of pupils from North Manchester High School for Boys took part in a yearlong project. One of the project objectives was to raise the awareness and perception that local people have towards one of Manchester's largest parks and how it would be possible to regenerate/improve it. The project was a partnership between local regeneration agencies, Manchester City Council Parks, the school, and me. The workshops that I delivered were photography, digital imaging, desktop publishing, research, and arts based. The work culminated in a large-scale exhibition. The children that participated in these workshops were part of the behavioural unit within the main school, which caters for special needs to those at risk of exclusion.
 

New Millennium - New Generation: Part 2
3rd May 2000 - 26th May 2000
Photography & Digital Arts Exhibition. Central Library, Manchester City Centre.

This was the second phase and an extended part of a project that was funded by the Millennium Fund through the Arts Council of London. The community group that I was a director of worked in partnership with Manchester Youth Service. I found myself taking on many roles so that these activities could be realised, from fundraising to the actual delivery of the sessions. I managed to bring on board other partners, which included Manchester City and Manchester United Football Clubs, local charities and community groups. As the project director and deliverer, I had many tasks to perform. The project workshops were delivered at over ten youth and community centres over a period of eighteen months, prior to the exhibition taking place, and continued once the exhibition stage had ended. The project was delivered both during the day and during the evening. The project had between fifty and one hundred regular participants. The participants ranged between 12 and 23 years of age. These young people learned both vocational and key skills by using latest computer technology, software, and professional photographic equipment. The work produced by many of these young people was extremely powerful and artistic and dealt with themes and issues from a young person�s point of view. Most of these young people were extremely territorial, so, the exhibition stage gave young people from different areas the chance to meet and learn about each other. Once completed the artwork was exhibited at high profile venues. Two of the key objectives of this visual arts project were 1; to enhance the understanding of diverse audiences of arts, galleries, and museums, 2; to enable participants to engage in high quality arts production, raise their self-esteem and help find progression routes for those that participate.



New Millennium - New Generation: Part 1
8th January 2000 - 30th January 2000. The Velodrome National Cycling Centre, East Manchester.

Photography & Digital Arts Exhibition at The Velodrome International Cycling Centre. This was the first part of a project that was funded by the Millennium Fund through the Arts Council of England. The project had been running for approximately one year and was immensely popular with young people. If you have ever visited the Velodrome Cycling Centre in East Manchester, you would realise how large it is. This exhibition covered every wall within the centre with extremely high quality visual material. These young people used professional photographic equipment, and latest digital imaging equipment and software. They had also been given their own camera and film stock so that they could take photographs during their own time and develop their own body of photographic work.
 

Groundwork Day – Photography Exhibition and Video Installation:
15th August 1999 – 5th September 1999.

A photographic and video exhibition, which documented (creatively) the regeneration of Ancoats, in East Manchester. I worked with a group of young people from Ancoats in East Manchester. Collectively, we produced a startling range of photographs, which captured that human aspect of regeneration. We documented the whole of the Ancoats area. This photography project was not only about documenting the improvement of bricks and mortar; it was also about documenting the enhancement to people�s lives. The three images above are just a small sample of the work that we created, and are indicative of the quality of the photographic work that we produced. On several photographic sessions we looked for objects that had been discarded by the ex tenants of these demolished homes. Of the images above, the first shows a discarded toy, the kind of kitsch one gets with a free child's meal from a fast food restaurant. The image is a very compelling representation of the Herculean tasks faced by both the local people and the regeneration companies. The second image shows some of the young people from the local area. Playing, surrounded by the recently razed houses. The third image has to be one of the most poignant images from this body of work. It shows a demolished wall, and amongst the rubble, part of the wall still has remnants of wallpaper left on it. The wallpaper shows Father Christmas taking a break from all his hard work whilst a young boy looks on, the mother, holding her finger up to her mouth, pleads with the boy to keep quiet whilst father rests. The image, a vignette of daily life, symbolizing the family unit, in a warm, comfortable, happy home. I worked with this group of young people for approximately one year. A primary objective was to get local people of all ages involved in the planning process of regeneration. The exhibition documented the first phase of local regeneration. Groundwork Trust commissioned this work. Since the conclusion of this project, the Ancoats area has undergone a massive regeneration programme.

'The Visit' - Photography Exhibition:  12th April 1999 - 16th April 1999. The Royal Northern College of Music. Manchester City Centre.

This photography project developed through discussion groups with young people at youth and community centres in East and North Manchester. Some of the groups belonged to alternative education programmes whilst other group sessions were held at youth and community centres during the evening. As a group we discussed the varied visual possibilities of representing things visually without text. Themes included fashion, anti-smoking issues, sexual health, and car crime amongst others. For instance the cigarette pack on the right contains a bullet. The meaning is obvious. Cigarettes Kill. Once an idea had been thought out, the young people were shown how to photograph their ideas creatively. The work culminated in a high quality exhibition at a high profile venue. The exhibition was very well received and the private view was attended by senior educationalists, youth workers and the parents of the young people who generated the work.



'The Remove' - Photography Exhibition:
11th January 1999- 15th January 1999
The Holden Art Gallery. Manchester Metropolitan University.

This was an exhibition of photographs produced by young people and myself at local youth and community centres. I arranged and publicised the exhibition and also acted as curator, whilst Dr. Eric Northey acted as consultant and editor of text. These young people took part in workshops where they learned to define their subjects with an educated awareness of what things are and what they mean. Each person designed their own brief, based on an issue of concern to them. For the first time in their lives, they took hold of the process of representation and through it; they have found a means for their own personal expression and creative development. Some of the young people used the topic of stereotypes. At one of the youth centres, Paul Boateng made a surprise visit and showed a great interest in the creativity of the young people, and gave his permission to have his portrait taken.




On Class Street Touring Photographic Exhibition
15th June 1998 - 24th December 1998. Touring Exhibition

This was a touring exhibition, the planning stages took six months. The touring exhibition visited thirteen sites within six months. Each venue exhibited the work for one month. The exhibition was divided into four sections, and each section alternated between venues on a weekly basis. It was extremely hard work, as the changeovers meant that at one stage I was taking down and replacing the exhibited work four times per week at four different venues. Each section of the exhibition consisted of 24 large format mounted images. The exhibition visited libraries, high profile venues, public spaces, youth, and community centres across the city of Manchester. The exhibition comprised of my own personal work. The work was a document of the short history of Beswick where the Commonwealth Games was held. I gave an introductory talk about the work to young people at each of the youth and community centres. After this introduction, a two-year programme of photography, desktop publishing and digital imaging workshops took place at the youth and community centres. Partners included Manchester Youth Service, Manchester City, and Manchester United Football Clubs, Greater Manchester Probation Service, Manchester Metropolitan University, and other funding organisations such as Arts Council of England.