Urban Hope

A friend recently asked me to photograph some of the girls working with Urban Hope, a voluntary organisation in Islington. Urban Hope "works with young people to enable their personal development and to work towards transforming the community we share into a place full of opportunities and success."

My contact was Joy Faulkner, who had arranged for the girls to have a makeover - or, as she put it, a makeunder - and then our portrait session so that they could see how gorgeous they are. I'm used to photographing people who don't want to be photographed, or rather who cannot bear to be seen to want to be photographed. After all, don't we all want to be portrayed in a lovely light, but are afraid of the possibility of being less than lovely?

From left to right: Ellie, Sheridan, Charlie, Ivy

Typical teenagers in that they don't know just how lovely they are. It was fascinating to see how they reacted to the camera. For some, it was all attitude and pouting, for others an agonising battle (with themselves) to even look at the camera. And how quickly they morph from child to teenager to adult - and back again - in the space of a few seconds, a few clicks of the camera. Ellie was the best example of this sort of reaction to the camera. To my eye, she is, in the pose above, all-knowing and wry. A grown-up, with her feet planted squarely, her arms a defiant question. The jacket recalls a smock of the kind worn by someone engaged in physical work, taking a break from it to stand and stare you in the eye, asking what it is you're after. A moment later, and she is all child again, laughing at herself and feeling self-conscious.

The images are best seen as a collection, so that, frame by frame, you feel that transformation in action. More can be seen on:

www.charlottemedlicott.co.uk/urbanhope

Our shoot ended with a group shot. I didn't have a particular set-up in mind. Our shoot took place in St. Stephen's church in Islington, where Urban Hope gathers the girls on a weekly basis. Before I could suggest otherwise, the girls had taken over the space - or, more precisely, the altar. Joy is unable to contain her laughter at the various poses offered by the girls...

 

Urban Hope: (l to r) Heidi, Ellie, Ivy (centre top), Jade, Joy. (middle centre top to bottom) Alex, Charlie, Sheridan