Corton Vale Young Offenders Institute (2003)

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Project Background

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund commissioned PhotoVoice to work in conjunction with Fairbridge Prison Project to conduct a 3-day photography training programme involving young female offenders. The aim of the workshops was to encourage this group of young women to explore notions of perception and generate material that they felt fairly reflected their lives and views in a direct communication with external audiences. Much of the workshops was concentrated on the theme of ‘Self-Portrait’.

The Fairbridge Prison project offers young offenders an alternative to re-offending through course participation, activities and personal support within the prison environment prior to release, and them with a personal development programme at their centres in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh post release. Of the 8 young women, aged between 17-20, that participated in the photography workshops, 7 of them had no formal qualifications or experience of employment, and over half were recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and had experience of either being homeless or in care.

For most of the group, the PhotoVoice workshops were the first time that they had been given the opportunity to show others that beyond the statistics like these that so often tie young offenders together, they also exist as unique individuals. And although as individuals they have often made unwise choices, these young people still have aspirations, wants, frustrations and fears like any other young person, and have the same desire to be heard and understood.