Culture Flash was the idea of Rich McEachran, who after graduating in Theology last summer, was empowered to change the social attitude towards young people, through the power of art. He believed that through forming a collective of young people, who share in common a passion to be creative and to express themselves, it was possible to achieve the goal of social enlightenment, that fought back against the mass media and negative stereotypes, that constantly cloud the public’s perceptions.

He applied for funding with the idea not yet formulated properly, in a competition run by a social enterprise, UnLtd, in late 2009. He ending up being on the shortlist of 31, from an initial 150 or so entries, and then went on to be one of the 15 winners in the public vote, being granted £3000.

The project itself wants to get as many young people involved as possible, through a variety of ways, and the team is currently growing and growing. It sets no restrictions and so is open to new ideas you may have and want to share with them. It does not charge you to get involved, and the idea is to take the project to the young people, rather than sitting around waiting for the young people to come to it.

Starting from early February we will be handing out 100 disposable cameras to 100 young people, and then exhibiting the results. The idea is to focus on an element of your life that is individual, or important, to you. So if you’re 16-25 and want to get your hands on one of the cameras, (or have some photos to submit for our online gallery), then drop us an email at info@thecultureflashgallery.com, and whilst you’re at it visit the website www.thecultureflashgallery.com

Cheers, Rich

This project is funded by the Big Challenge. The Big Challenge, a competition for young people who want to change the world, is a partnership between UnLtd and Changemakers, and is funded by Vodafone and v-inspired.