In the summer of 2019 Young Futures ran a project called Portraits of the Mind with videographer and photojournalist Doma Dovgialo. The project aimed to encourage young people to express their innermost thoughts through a series of art and photography workshops.
Eight young people were each given a morning or afternoon with the artist. They talked about their relationship with their image, their experience of mental health, how they feel wider society views them and the impact of stereotypes, before creating a portrait together.
Doma invited each young person to choose how and with what they wanted to be photographed. All were creative in what they chose to share. Some chose objects that were precious to them or had a story to tell, others revealed their home spaces. Some chose to show a part of their body; an arm, a shoulder, two hands for a mum and her baby. Once a photograph was chosen each person drew over or around their image, using a digital tablet, revealing something of their internal world and relationship with their external image.
The result is a series of striking and thought-provoking images that we hope to present in an exhibition next year.
Here’s what some of our young people had to say about the experience:
Have you ever participated in a project like this before?
I haven’t been a part of a project like this before. It was quite interesting to explore a new project and explore the mind in a different way.
If you were to describe your experience in three words…
Mindful
Amusing
Technological
What would you say you are taking away from this experience?
How people are perceived on the outside might not be how people feel on the inside...
Have you ever participated in a project like this before?
No. It was an interesting concept, I saw the images from the book Doma created with adults and wanted to have a go myself.
If you were to describe your experience in three words?
New
Nervous
Different
What would you say you are taking away from this experience?
The experience of working with a visual artist, who was really nice, and being part of something bigger.