Every picture tells a story

Ledbury’s aspiring Lichfields and Budding Bailey’s have been using photography to explore and illustrate a crucial social issue in their community.

The six-week project, run at Ledbury Youth Centre, encouraged young people of Ledbury to examine drug issues in their community and how it affects them.

The project was commissioned by Herefordshire Council’s Ledbury Youth Worker, Pippa Hart and the Courtyard’s Arts Development Officer, Clare Stanton.

Wide Bracket’s Ally Hardy ran the project. Wide Bracket specialise in providing issue-based arts projects for young people.

Funding for the project was provided by Herefordshire Council’s Community Youth Service, the Courtyard and Ledbury Drug Forum.

During the project the young people learnt about different and innovative photographic techniques, using both digital and disposable film cameras.

The group involved in the project produced a diverse range of provocative and fascinating images.

The teenagers work will be exhibited at the Courtyard, Hereford for one week. There will be a private view of the exhibition on Monday, April 3 and the work will then be open to the public from April 4 – 10th

“While the project dealt with a controversial theme, its intention was to help the young people explore their own identity and position in an ordinary Herefordshire market town where, like towns all over the country, drugs have become a part of youth culture,” said Pippa Hart, Herefordshire Council’s Ledbury Youth worker.

"I was really impressed by how much these young people who took hold of the theme of the project and ran with it. It just seemed to make sense to them,” said Ally Hardy, project leader

“They had lots of fun setting up pictures inside the youth centre and outside around Ledbury. Some of them really got into playing with the cameras too and produced some amazing images,” she added.