University of Brighton professor uncovers the overlooked history of children behind the camera

What happens when you put a camera in a child’s hands? Perhaps a sibling caught mid-sneeze, a beloved pet, a wonky family portrait or a photograph of something that, to an adult, seems entirely unremarkable. But look again and these snapshots can reveal something much bigger: how children have understood, explored and made sense of the world around them.

University of Brighton Professor of Visual and Material Culture, Annebella Pollen is delving into this often-overlooked history, exploring what children photographed when they first got behind the camera – and what their pictures can tell us about childhood, creativity and the changing ways young people have seen their lives.

Whippersnappers: How Children Became Photographers, is a result of a four-year study exploring how generations of children used photography to document their worlds. It traces children’s photography from school photographic societies in the 1880s, through post-war camera clubs and radical 1970s workshops, to the digital age.

The project grew out of Professor Pollen’s research into amateur photography and how cameras evolved from expensive, specialist equipment into a mass form of visual communication. It was funded by the £100,000 Philip Leverhulme Prize which was awarded to her in 2021.

The project reveals that children had been encouraged to take photographs for nearly 150 years, with camera companies, schools, comics and teachers all playing a role. Kodak, for example, marketed a simple, affordable camera to children as early as 1900.

Among the archives uncovered is a remarkable early-1990s newspaper project in which a family – including children aged two, four and six – were given cameras, unlimited film and free processing for a year. They produced 25,000 prints documenting their everyday lives.

Alongside the newly published book, the findings form the basis of Snap Happy! How Children Became Photographers, an exhibition curated by Professor Pollen which opens at The Photographers’ Gallery in London on 14 October and runs until 21 February 2027. Through the exhibition, Professor Pollen hopes to bring her research to a wider public, including moving-image material not featured in the book.

Professor Pollen said: “Children's photography is a really overlooked cultural practice, but there's a lot of photos out there. I thought if I can find them and tell those stories, they could tell us the pre-history of how we got to where we are today. It may sound like an obscure topic, but everyone takes photographs and most people started as children.

Annebella Pollen

“Children's drawing and painting has been celebrated, but children's photography has not. Across nearly 150 years, we find photos of children playing, pets and toys, scenes from classrooms and playgrounds. These are not adult viewpoints. Cameras give kids a chance to look back and shift the perspective. We see children's worlds through children's photography.”

Whippersnappers: How Children Became Photographers is now available to purchase while the exhibition, Snap Happy! How Children Became Photographers, runs at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, from 14 October 2026 to 21 February 2027.

Staff related to this story

Professor Annebella Pollen

Prof in Visual and Material Culture – School of Humanities and Social Science

Understanding childhood and adolescence Research Excellence Group, Photography Research Excellence Group, Comics and Graphic Narratives Research Excellence Group, Centre for Design History