AS part of the Gallery of Photography's Education Programme, over 30 secondary school students north and south of the Border were invited to record aspects of their lives and environments over a one-year period. The students were from Hazelwood Integrated College in Belfast and St Vincent's Secondary School in Dundalk. Rather than get caught up in the technicalities of photography, they "were encouraged to adopt a free, expressive approach to image-making, ensured by the use of point-and-shoot cameras." The result is a portfolio of informal colour pictures of everything from the boredom of the classroom, depicted by Suzanne Bouzan (above), to the peace line bisecting a Belfast park, viewed from opposite sides by Rory Gilmore and Karen McMurran. Exploring Identity opens at the Gallery of Photography next Wednesday.
