As Northern Ireland slowly steps out of lockdown, a new online exhibition shows us the pandemic through the lens of local young people.
Reimagine Remake Replay (RRR) is excited to launch A Look into Lockdown, a free online exhibition sharing a snapshot of lockdown life. Created across 5 weeks, this exhibition features fantastic mobile photography from 18-25 year olds who were taught new photography and editing skills, and challenged to produce a series of pandemic pics that shared their perspective.
The Reimagine, Remake, Replay project is led by a consortium including Nerve Centre, National Museums Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Museums Council and Northern Ireland Screen, and is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Kick the Dust programme.
This programme included a masterclass from the brilliant Belfast artist and celebrated photographer Christopher Barr, who discussed how to create a photography collection using examples from his extensive work. Christopher Barr also critiqued the work of each participant, encouraging their development as photographers and artists.
Catherine Scott from Fermanagh Museum, inspiring as ever, also gave a presentation on both a selection of photographs within the museum’s collection and their correlation to well-known photographs throughout history.
As a result, 18 participants shared their unique lockdown lives across the 93 photos featured in the final online exhibition. Identity, dogs and digital connections are just a few of the themes that make up the poignant collection of creative photographs!
As we hopefully move out of lockdown for the last time, RRR wanted to encourage young people to be a part of the conversation, reflecting and producing new work based on their lived experience.
“I learned so much about photography and improved my skills in editing, taking pictures and picking the right angles!” said participant photographer, Yasmin Ayyad. “It was amazing!”.
Aoife Lafferty said she also “enjoyed the amazing, non-stop excellent teaching and inspiration!”.
The final exhibition will remain on the Reimagine Remake Replay website, acting as a record of this historic time and of the perspectives of the young people who experienced it.
A Look into Lockdown is available to view right now, for free: www.reimagineremakereplay.org/showcase.
