Charley Murrell ARPS - Child's Play Exhibition at the Royal Photographic Society

In 2009 Charley began to explore the impact of images upon the everyday lives of children. Cultural influences in the form of advertisements, magazines, television and the Internet have significant effects on how children view themselves.

Children are overwhelmed with imagery that encourages them to generate unattainable ideals, desires for material possessions and an unhealthy focus on status. They also help to shape boys’ and girls’ perceptions about their future roles as adults and ideal body appearances. Evidence suggests that children go through considerable anxiety about their bodies, possessions and aspirations and find it difficult to resolve the differences between their own lives and the ideals that surround them.

Charley states that “Throughout the project, I found many of my subjects were involved in child modelling. The increase of online modelling websites and child modelling agencies makes it easier and more common for children to step into modelling at a younger age. These photographs explore children’s sense of self and their roles as models and children.”

The exhibition will consist of both prints and a multimedia video.