Images of lives in care – exhibition of work by young people opens

A new exhibition of photographs reflecting young people’s images of their lives in care has gone on display in Aberdeen.

The show features work by members of the Voice of Reason group from the city – teenagers and young adults who have been through the care system and now prepare social work students at Robert Gordon University to help future generations.

Participants joined a similar group in Ayrshire for the photographic project, which was organised to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC).

They were given a loan of digital cameras and training from a professional photographer and challenged to come up with images which portrayed their lives.

Among the exhibitors is Kimberley Grant, 27, whose photograph shows a road sign with a small child looking up to its adult role model. In the accompanying notes she explains that the figures represent her belief that young people need support from responsible and positive people.

It is a theory she puts into practice every day – both through her efforts with the Voice of Reason group and her job with the children’s charity Barnardo’s, helping children who have been in the care of Aberdeenshire Council.

Having grown up in a children’s home in Aberdeen herself, Miss Grant, from Kincardine O’Neill, is well qualified to advise others.

“I hope the exhibition helps raise awareness – among the general public and young people in care themselves,” she said.

Jeremy Millar, lecturer in social work at Robert Gordon University, has been working with the Voice of Reason group for several years.

He said: “In order to develop the service we provide to young people in care we have to listen, and they bring a range of experiences to the students that can only come from having been through the care system themselves.”

“These are young people who have come out of care, faced all kinds of issues, and are contributing something back to society.”

The exhibition, Reflections and Visions: The World Through Different Eyes, will be at the Central Library until October 14, before moving to the reception area at St Nicholas House until October 21, and then the Foyer restaurant until October 28 and the Westburn Road Project until November 4.