PROJECT BACKGROUND

The debate around 'youth issues' such as gangs, knife crime, youth opportunities and peer pressure is too often held in political circles and the media, excluding those most affected, and those who hold the key to improving the situation – young people themselves.


​Lookout is a platform for young people to highlight their perspectives on any issues they feel are important, and which are overlooked by politicians, and ignored or misrepresented by the media.

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Since June 2010 UK-based international charity PhotoVoice has been working with young people from all backgrounds across the UK providing free training in digital photography and offering opportunities for young people to amplify their voices in the debate around youth issues.

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PhotoVoice has been running workshops with hundreds of young people in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow and more, supporting them to speak out about issues they feel strongly about through photography, music, spoken word and digital storytelling. Throughout 2013 PhotoVoice will be pushing these photos and messages from young people into the public eye through exhibitions, online campaigns, media coverage and social media.

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Any young person living in the UK can feed their voice into the campaign by submitting captioned photos, or attending the youth conferences in Liverpool and London.

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The result of the Lookout project will be a multimedia youth manifesto, detailing the issues that are concerning young people in the UK today, along with their perspectives on changes that are needed to improve life for young people all over the UK. This manifesto will be posted online in July 2013 for young people to add to, comment on and make suggestions, before it is finalised at the youth conference in London in September 2013.​