In 2023, I spent the year photographing my neighbours; as part of my continuing quest to understand the world around me, I wanted to get a better picture of who my neighbours are, what makes them tick… and what better way than to join them in their homes and photograph what they wanted to present as emblematic of themselves.

When in 2024 the images that resulted were exhibited in West Kilbride’s Barony Centre, I held a couple of workshops with young people around the theme of Oor Hame; from ages 4 to 15, West Kilbride youngsters then submitted images that summed up home for them. The images then formed an open air exhibition in the streets of West Kilbride over the Easter Holiday, displayed in the windows of the shops and offices of our main streets. The idea was to get young people to think about the stories images can tell, and for the whole of the village (and our visitors) to gain an insight into young people’s viewpoints; and, if it brought more people to visit and walk down our streets, all the better!

For 2025, I worked with the P7 pupils at West Kilbride Primary (thanks are due to the form teachers, Mrs Graham and Mrs Reid, and also to members of the public who supplied digital cameras for use by young people who either didn’t have, or preferred not to use, smartphones).

There have been 3 workshops with each of the two classes. First, we looked at different concepts and tools within photography, before setting a treasure hunt as homework; the pupils were asked to find and submit examples of pattern, portraiture, nature, favourite colour, and something no-one else will see. In the second week we discussed what we meant by themes, and the young people went away to take their own group of pictures for the open air gallery. In the third week we reviewed the images that the pupils submitted, and discussed their responses to the project.

Now we have printed up the images; there are more than 200 of them, with a tremendous variety of subjects, and an incredible degree of quality. It’s now the time to display them in the shops, offices, and cafes of West Kilbride, where they will once again form a great open air gallery throughout the village.

Hope you can make the trip to see the amazing work of these great young photographers!