Youngers
This series follows my three teenagers and their friends as they have grown up into young adults, living in South East London. The word ‘youngers’ is a local slang term this generation use to describe those younger than themselves. I have documented their transition into adulthood over the past 8 years as a way to keep a record of this time, for both them and also myself. Remembering that one day in the near future I will have ‘an empty nest’ and the house will be a much quieter space has compelled me to take photographs.
As a female photographer, I am always aware that I am shooting with a woman’s eyes and sometimes a mother’s gaze, and with that comes a specific and sensitive way of seeing things. I am interested in showing young adult girls as the strong women that they are becoming, rather than beautiful objects to suit the traditional values belonging to the male gaze. There is also a vulnerability to the boys and young men who are my subjects that I am very conscious of. I often find myself photographing my son at times of strong feeling and emotion, where taking a picture together helps us to grapple with the magnitude of such experiences. I love how the photographs sometimes reveal the importance young people place on friendship and the support they give one another through thick and thin.
Friendships form an integral part of their lives, with there always being many familiar pairs of shoes by the front door. From having breakfast in bed after a rave, to celebrating birthdays in the back garden, I have occasionally been invited to take photographs. Looking through my lens, I am allowed a degree of momentary detachment, at once able to view the scene from an outsider’s point of view while being simultaneously reminded of the universal experience of youth and my own teenage years.