| Eagora

People are producing and viewing photographs like never before. The visual dominates our world. Young people and adolescents are brought up in a culture where technology and the visual is a normal part of their day to day life. Phone calls are the least used functionality of the smartphone which is now an extension of our body, attached to the palm of our hand in constant exchange with the information network. In a way, our bodies are simultaneously present in the real world as well as on the internet. We live in a culture of speed and expect everything to happen immediately. The digital image which is much richer in content than a text message, for example, becomes a prerequisite for an immediate exchange of feelings and experiences. Photography right now provides an unrivalled immediacy: both the sensory immediacy of visual stimulation and the immediacy of technology, making photography one of the most accessible forms of expression. What are the possibilities for this enthusiasm in photography to be harnessed for the re-engagement of NEETs (young people between the age of 16-24 not in education, employment or training) by utilising participatory photography methods and visual literacy? What is the potential of photography to engage, communicate and transform?