Open Eye Gallery: Unschooled, a Heuristic Study
Venue: Open Eye Gallery
Date(s): 14.9.22 - 14.10.22
Time(s): All Day
UNSCHOOLED, A HEURISTIC STUDY @ OPEN EYE GALLERY ATRIUM SPACE
14 SEPTEMBER – 14 OCTOBER 2022
Heuristic: Enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves.
Unschooled: Heuristic Outcomes is part of a long-term project by photographer Bekkie Graham researching alternative education, commencing in 2019 during her MA in Photography.
As the parent of four children who were electively home educated (EHE), Graham wanted to visually explore the reason families choose EHE and what their education looks like. The project aims to bring the reality of EHE to the mainstream as an antidote to inaccurate depictions of home education in the media. The pandemic school closures added to negative stereotypes, where the lockdown version of home education was likened to EHE _ something far removed from the truth.
The project comprises four stand-alone bodies of research that are simultaneously ongoing and evolving, whilst being intrinsically intertwined.
Early in the project, the research became multimedia in nature, incorporating text, film and audio to better contextualise the landscape of EHE in the UK. By Enabling the voices of the participants to be at the forefront of the project, Graham’s images work in collaboration with the participants’ individual stories to show the beauty of an alternative education.
Image credit: Bekkie Graham