How The Photography Movement is supporting young people’s mental health over lockdown

For young people in the pandemic, the world has been a strange, lonely place. But with smartphones, The Photography Movement is helping young people re-connect and express their emotions through the medium of photography.

Vismedia is a long-time supporter and partner of The Photography Movement. We created a 360° experience for their 2017 exhibition and continue to provide pro-bono digital and creative services for them. As they launched their new Show and Tell campaign and exhibition, we pitched in with our developers to code their website to display the gallery online.

What is the Show and Tell exhibition?

At the height of the pandemic, The Photography Movement launched the Show and Tell project: a series of four video workshops for 11-18 year-olds to get them to start practising photography tips and tricks using just their smartphones.

The workshops were led by professional photographers – including world-renowned Rankin – and therapeutic photography experts. Each session encourages viewers to practice photography skills with a focus on camera phones. The end of the project culminated in an exhibition backed by Cisco to feature as part of a national billboard campaign that commenced in February 2021.

To be featured in the exhibition, young participants had to answer the question: how are you feeling? The Photography Movement team received over 20,000 images in response. With the help of the judges, the entries were whittled down to a final 15 to became the face of the national billboard campaign.

Exhibition embraced by teachers and teenagers

Show and Tell has gained some serious traction, featuring in the national press and receiving entries from young people all over the world. The ultimate goal is to fit the workshops into the school curriculum.

It’s more important than ever that we talk to kids about how they’re feeling and to allow some time to talk things through with them. We’re very proud to have played our part in helping young people in the UK and beyond help themselves in a difficult time.