Handle With Care: Alex Mitchell

“ I chose these objects because they are all unusual and they all fit with a set theme. I think they look really interesting together. If I had my own museum everything in it would be arranged by theme so that the objects tell a story about where they are from.”

Exeter-based photographer Brendan Barry worked with a group of young people aged thirteen to seventeen years old to create these photographic prints.

The participants are all young carers, who use the Devon Carers service. A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who provides practical or emotional support and assistance for a relative or family friend. This could be due to a number of reasons including disability, illness or a mental health condition.

Brendan Barry is well known for transforming unusual objects into cameras and darkrooms: they are often large-scale, such as a caravan, or shipping container, and in this case a large cardboard box sited in the centre of the museum.

Through a series of workshops at Devon Carers, Westbank, and at RAMM, the young people gained skills in composition, darkroom techniques, and image processing, and created their own photographic prints. They also handled and selected objects from RAMM’s collections to inspire a series of photographs. Each participant chose museum objects that they felt connected to, perhaps saying something about their identity or sparking personal narratives.

© Brendan Barry