Craig Easton, UK

Sixteen

"Sixteen is an ongoing project looking at the experience, dreams, aspirations and fears of sixteen year olds from all walks of life in the UK.
Shot on a large format field camera, the project is a collaborative process with the young people: in each case they are asked to write a personal handwritten testimony to be presented at all times alongside the photograph. The idea is to give each of the sixteen year olds a voice without the filter of a journalists questions or interpretation.

At 16 you are on the cusp of adulthood, but still legally classed as a child in many ways. You are starting to take responsibility for your future and (I sincerely hope) you are full of dreams and ambitions. Many young people of course can feel hope-less, frightened and angry, already disengaged from society.
These dreams, ambitions and fears, I believe, are to a large extent dictated by your environment, your family, your gender, your economic and social situation, your nationality, ethnicity etc. I am interested in how each of those factors influences what you think you can achieve; how it defines your ability to fulfill your potential.

This ongoing project (I will be inviting other photographers to participate going forward) is designed to explore the feelings of sixteen year olds at a stage in life where they are making big decisions for their future in a very uncertain world."