This activity is designed to work in youth settings where young people have not necessarily questioned their gender identity or sexual orientation. The purpose of the activity is to create space to discuss the issues, understand others’ experiences and develop awareness and empathy. This activity also develops visual literacy and emotional literacy.
Look at, Read, Listen to
1. Ask each person to write down five different emotions (e.g. relief or sadness) or states of being (e.g. confusion) that the young people in the examples might have experienced.
2. In pairs, ask each person to discuss what they have written with their partner.
3. Next, still in pairs, each person chooses three emotions that they would like to communicate through a photograph. Each pair works together to create these six images. Metaphor and symbolism are good tools to use here. If there is a person (or people) in the images consider their poses and facial expressions. What might different objects symbolise? Think about camera angles (try getting in close, shooting from above, or below), consider whether the images will relate to each other, and make careful decisions about what you include or leave out of each image.
4. Once everyone has finished, print out or download the final images. Go through all the images together, discussing what the images signify.