PHOTOGRAPHY EXAMPLES

Close-Up Research is an ethnographic research and storytelling agency specialising in lived experience. We spend time with people in their everyday environments to make sense of how they think, feel and behave. Our insights and films help clients design, evaluate and communicate better policies, products and services.

Alongside ethnography, we also offer diary studies, vox pops, podcasts, photography, animation, co-design workshops and training.

Below are some examples of our photography work.

WHAT BRINGS YOU MOST JOY? / INTO UNIVERSITY

To find out more about the young people who attend IntoUniversity’s after-school support centres, we visited attendees across the country, to take their photo portraits and interview them in their homes. The theme we used for both the portraits and interviews was ‘three things that bring you most joy’. Clicking on an image below will open an interview snippet.

  • For the top three things I enjoy in life, football is one. I’ve had my football stolen three times already though. Streaming and gaming is another one. And my mum’s food is one of them. I do a lot of gaming competitions, like next week I’m going to be doing a competition for money, because I have a team, so if we win it then we qualify and we might be able to go to New York. If I make it into university I would do a law degree, as I got really interested in being a lawyer." - Hamza, aged 13, from Hammersmith
  • "For the top three things I most enjoy, first would be being with my family. I think number two would be Lego and art, and number three would probably be teaching my siblings. My intention is to become an architect because I enjoy building and designing, drawing, the general space of art." - Rayyan, aged 13, from Hammersmith
  • "My three favourite things are: makeup; I don’t know if my dog Harvey is a thing but he brings me joy; and I like being outside, I like nature. When I'm older I want to have my own makeup brand, and I want to be a makeup artist." - Katie, aged 13, from Liverpool
  • "We both love, and would like to pursue a career in science. We created an electromagnet that was entered into a national science fair. We really enjoyed that. The main thing we both enjoy as a past-time is drawing. Art is a way of expressing what your opinion on the world and your views about different things is. We’ve also published a story book. Ever since we were young we had a passion for writing, because when we write you go into your own fictional world. We love the feeling of euphoria or nostalgia from both reading and writing. And one more thing we like doing as well is playing football." - Hills & Wills, aged 12, from Liverpool
  • "My favourite place near here is the park. I like the zip-wire the most because you can go really fast and it feels like flying. I didn't used to be able to speak to other people, I wasn't really speaking in school for the whole day. Now I'm a bit more confident, and feel happy. When I grow up I want to be a dentist." - Hanna, aged 11, from Brighton
  • "I love to ride my bike. Feeling the air on my face and through my hair, it’s amazing. I also love the seafront. And I love people. There are so many people that are important to me, but I have one friend, Brandon, he’s my brother from another mother. I wasn't doing great at school. Not paying attention, the teachers weren't my biggest fan. Then I knuckled down and got an A star in Design Engineer Construct and a Level 2 distinction in Business. Now I want to go to university and study business management and accounting." - Mat, aged 16, from Clacton-on-Sea
  • "My three favourite things are: food; my mum and dad; and outdoor activities, like cycling and trampolining. I like doing tricks on the trampoline, like front flips and handstands. When I'm older I want to be a cancer surgeon." - Sara, aged 12, from Bristol
  • "I really enjoy BTS, which is a K-Pop group. The vibe they give off is really happy and bubbly and their recent tour has been about loving yourself and speaking out. I also like writing and reading. I like anything with a good storyline, but mostly dystopian novels. I'm working on a dystopian novel myself. It's just a way to escape, because it's a little world of your own where you can create everything. And I like collecting pictures and stuff and putting them in a memory book. It stops memories from fading. I want to study child nursing and work with children, because I've been surrounded by younger people my whole life and I've had that caring role." - Yasmin, aged 17, from Hackney
  • "Sometimes me and my cousin will make a singing duo. And then I also like making dance moves. There’s an app called TikTok where you sing and dance to songs, and me and my cousin use it a lot, 24/7. I’m interested in being a doctor, a gymnastics coach, also an interior designer. My mum decides that I should be a lawyer." - Betty, aged 10, from Nottingham
  • "My favourite thing is playing with the cats, because they’re cute. We've have three: Destiny, Mckenzie and Ginger. We found Ginger because people were abusing him, and being mean to him. So he just came to our house because he didn't have any place to go. I ran off because I was scared, now I like him. If I could do any job in the world I would be a mosque teacher." - Aisha, aged 12, from Coventry
  • "My favourite things are: my family, because they are very supportive of you and they love you. I also love travelling, because I love to look at the atmosphere in different places and the culture and traditions there. I like Korean movies because they’re very different. And I like to draw, because there are no boundaries, and you can be as creative as you want. If there’s a movie scene that I think looks really good, I pause it and draw it. I'd like to be a paediatrician when I'm older." - Rehan, aged 12, from Bristol
  • "I like sports. I really enjoy it when you team up, and when you win it's a nice feeling. Not only yourself but other people on your team will feel proud. I really enjoy Taekwando because, like boxing, you also learn to defend yourself, but this includes kicking. When I grow older, I want to be a heart surgeon." - Rizwaan, aged 11, from Bristol

AGE-POSITIVE IMAGE LIBRARY / CENTRE FOR AGEING BETTER

What’s it like growing older in Lincolnshire, and how can the council help? / CENTRE FOR AGEING BETTER

We visited organisations working with older people across Lincolnshire, to speak with people about their experiences of growing older in the county, what they liked about living in there, and what improvements they’d like to see. The interviews were recorded in audio-only format, and accompanied by photos of the participants and their local environments.