Young People

Catcher Media have found that young people really enjoy engaging with their local heritage – if it’s an approach they can readily engage in. They get a real kick from finding out about the ‘old days’ by chatting with older people and by exploring the photographs of their local area in times gone by. So far, the project has worked with numerous primary schools and young people affiliated to two organisations. Young people with SHYPP (who provide sheltered housing for young people) created a series of arts-based responses to Derek Evans photos and exhibited the results in the Courtyard with ‘Beyond the Lens: A contemporary response to the Derek Evans Studio Archive’.

Workshops with Looked-After-Children explored their understanding of heritage: “What is of value? What would you like to keep for the future?”

The group thought about their most valued spaces in the county, and what made them special. Then after some practise sessions with iPads, the group scripted questions based on Derek Evans Studiio archive, Hereford Football Club and the May Fair and filmed the interview with Ray Lloyd, taking turns in the various production roles i.e. camera-person, director, DOP, interviewer, sound recordist and runner.

These aspects of the project will enable young people to explore their local heritage using the Derek Evans Studio photographs, video techniques and other creative activities. They will be encouraged to critically engage with their chosen artforms and to question contemporary issues through the lens of the not-so-distant past.