Discussion | How Children Became Photographers

The exhibition Snap Happy!, and its related publication Whippersnappers (Four Corners Books, 2026), explores the history of children as photographers. From post-war camera clubs to magazines and photobooks designed for young people, the exhibition traces photography’s movement from elite pastime to accessible and popular hobby.

Join Annebella Pollen and Alan Dein for what is sure to be an enjoyably warm conversation related to children's unique perspective of the world around them through photography, and the context for this from the 1880s to the coming of digital cameras.

Annebella Pollen is Professor of Visual and Material Culture at University of Brighton, UK, where she researches undervalued archives and untold stories in art and design history. She is curator of the exhibition Snap Happy: How Children Became Photographers at The Photographers’ Gallery and author of Whippersnappers: How Children Became Photographers, 2026, Four Corners Books.

Alan Dein is an oral historian, writer and award-winning BBC radio documentary maker. In a broadcasting career spanning over 30 years, he has been commissioned by numerous institutions and community groups. His interviews for the 'Oral History of British Photography' project are held in the British Library. His photography-related books include 'Face in the Crowd' and 'Candy, Andy & the Bearandas' for Four Corners Books, and 'After You've Gone' a collection of East End shopfronts to accompany his exhibition at Tower Hamlets Local History Library.