SIXTEEN

Photographer Craig Easton conceived this project following his engagement with first-time voters in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. It was the first - and as yet only time – sixteen-year-olds were given suffrage in the United Kingdom.

This strand of a larger project comprises of a series of 15 portraits focussed on the Western Isles - Barra, South Uist, Harris, Scalpay, Lewis, Orkney Mainland, Shetland Mainland, Yell and Unst. These were made on large format and are presented as diptychs with hand written commentary from the young people on what it is like to be sixteen today, their hopes and their fears, and the project aims to dispel any myth about island life being insular or in young people not having outward facing opinions and aspirations.

The ensuing portraits and the sixteen-year-olds candid testimonies reveal whom and what they really care about, and as well as exploring landscape and language in the Scottish Islands, it also looks at how social background, gender, ethnicity, health, education, location etc. all influence what young people think they can achieve in life.

Everything Flows is a specially curated coastal exhibition trail, programmed by Street Level Photoworks in partnership with regional venues and supported by EventScotland as part of the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21.

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