I have chosen an image from the project 'The Rugged Places’. What draws me to this work, is the clear connection Atkinson has with her subject, and the sense of collaboration and shared voice she engenders to open out a narrative around the experience of growing up in a rural environment.

What I see on the faces of the subject is the ongoing shifting confusion of ‘I like this place, I hate this place’. Atkinson strikes a good balance when exploring ideas between the co-existence of specialness and isolation present when surrounded by masses of space rather than masses of people - also possibly used here as an allegory for the ongoing conflict at the heart of adolescence, “leave me alone – pay me attention”. This balance is also successful in terms of the voices in the work. She collaborates effectively with the individuals of the community, drawing out their experience and developing a sense of photography as storyteller of a common narrative. And by giving the individuals power, via the choice over location, their place in the composition, and ultimately, how they want to be viewed, rather than how the photographer wants them to look, there is a humility in the encounter and subsequently the image. Photography has yet another powerful quality when used like this, connecting to methods of communication reaching far back into the history of human communication, from the spoken word, to song. These forms demonstrate our desire to record our experiences and thoughts which, when passed on, become embellished and develop a life of their own, as the growth in the cycle of being told and retold. Historically the landscape is often at the heart of these narratives and so too is it here, as the theatre of all the experiences. The choice of age group is significant, as it is these individuals who at a pivotal point in their lives, are dreaming of a future, in which one day they will transform and move away (or not) from these isolated, hopeless and beautiful places.

Anne-Marie Atkinson is a photographer, artist and social activist based in Leeds, UK - www.annemarieatkinson.co.uk

Richard Mulhearn is a photographer and Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Contemporary Photography at Stockport College, Manchester, UK.