Toby Binder
By capturing the gritty reality of Belfast youth, photographer Toby Binder has earned 1st place in the People/Children category of the 2024 International Photography Awards. In his series, titled Wee Muckers – Youth of Belfast, Binder documents the lives of working-class Belfast children and adolescents through their streets, parks, and neighbourhoods. These images, with their raw and dynamic quality, communicate to us authentically about the daily lives of the youth that reside in post-conflict Northern Ireland. More than that, the series is a deeply empathetic portrait of young lives shaped by the ramifications of historical conflict, infiltrated by epidemics of suicide and drugs.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Toby Binder about his experience creating this powerful series, and his insights into the lives of his subjects. Now, we invite you to explore the journey that shaped Wee Muckers – Youth of Belfast. In his reflections, Binder shares the endearing meaning behind the series’ title, his strong sense of social responsibility, and the ethical choices that guided his approach.
Q: What is the meaning behind “Wee Muckers” and what is the inspiration behind this title?
I tried to find a more sonorous name in addition to the working title ‘Youth of Belfast’ and also wanted to include the special terms of local language used in Northern Ireland. The idea ultimately came from a teacher I was in contact with because I photographed his pupils for the project. It just means “little friends” and thus captures the content of the book quite well, in that it is also about the importance of friendship and solidarity.
Q: Do you feel any sense of social responsibility towards the youth of Belfast? If so, how does that shape your approach to photography?
Of course! As in all my work, I feel connected to the people I photograph. This always creates a responsibility for how I photograph and also how I use the images. Because in documentary photography you have to deal with real people and your work often has concrete impact on their lives, which can be both good and bad. I always try to approach people honestly and responsibly, which is all the more important when you’re working with vulnerable groups. Young people in particular are not always able to judge the consequences correctly when a great closeness has developed through trust. Of course, it’s this authenticity that you want as a photographer, but I also have to fulfil a responsibility and sometimes protect the protagonists. This is not to be understood in the sense of censorship, but some pictures, for example, I have only published after a time when they were no longer relevant under criminal law – but they are still socially relevant. In Belfast, I’m also trying to get involved in suicide prevention for teenagers, as this topic – regardless of the photography I came into contact with it through – simply concerns me personally.
Q: You’ve documented youth on both sides of the historical Irish sectarian conflict. How similar or different are the struggles they face, and do you see any common ground between them?
Absolutely, that was actually the idea behind the book: to show that so many years after the peace agreement, many things in people’s everyday lives, especially those of young people, are exactly the same. Same clothes, same hairstyles, same drugs, same problems… Catholics used to be discriminated against when it came to getting a job back then, but now many Protestants also have to struggle with unemployment, for example. It is now much more obvious that it is actually a social conflict that is being kept simmering by a few. Please keep in mind, I’m talking here about the situation in the working-class neighbourhoods, which are still mostly homogeneous in terms of denomination. This idea of tradition and culture here, of how you have to be in order to fit into certain patterns, exerts enormous pressure on young people. Because belonging and solidarity have long been paramount. What if I’m not like that? But little by little, a liberation from these structures modelled by the elders is already taking place. In recent years, I have met more and more mixed-denominational teenage couples, for example. Something that would have been unthinkable until a few years ago.
Q: How do you approach capturing the raw, everyday moments in Belfast? Do you have a specific process or style that guides your work? How do you go about building trust with the teenagers?
It’s pretty simple and it’s all about time and honesty. The kids have a good sense of whether you’re really interested in their situation, their life. And whether this interest is authentic and continues even when there’s no photo to be taken. And you’re just chatting. Having a cigarette or revealing something from your own life.
Q: Can you describe a moment or a photograph that particularly stands out to you in the “Wee Muckers” series? What was it about that moment that you felt was important to capture?
I don’t think there’s a single moment or photo. Especially because I see the work as long-term documentation, as a process. I’m waiting for moments, strong individual pictures, of course. But these should come together to form a complete story. Personally, it is always very touching for me to come back and see what has become of the teenagers I photographed. When they grow up, when they’re doing well, when they get their lives together, you’re happy. But of course there is also the other side: death, drugs, mental problems, prison.
Q: There is a recurring backdrop in almost all of the photographs. How important is the setting, or the backdrop, in your work? Do you consider the physical surroundings to be as much a part of the story as the people themselves?
My work always starts with people; they are always my focus. But I do think that the environment has a massive influence on the people who live there, and vice versa. There are lots of examples for this interaction. Once a house on a street has boarded up its windows, the inhibition for vandalism of other buildings also drops. If someone plants flowers in their front garden, the neighbor’s rubbish is no longer thrown on the street, etc. On the other hand, in Belfast, for example, a fenced-in water reservoir that young people used to gain unauthorized access to was always a popular meeting place. It looked wild there, with fire pits and lots of rubbish. Then the city turned the area into a park, and it’s much nicer now. People go for walks with their dogs. But today’s young people are missing precisely this kind of retreat the kids used to have before…! And in Belfast in particular, the physical shape of the city by history cannot be obscured. There are simply so many fences, walls, and dead ends.
Conclusion
Toby Binder’s Wee Muckers – Youth of Belfast is far more than a documentary series. It is a raw, empathetic portrait of a generation navigating the remnants of a divided past while forging paths toward a shared future. Through gritty backdrops, Binder invites us into the lives of Belfast’s youth with a lens that is both socially conscious and deeply human. His work reminds us that, despite the persistent shadows of conflict and deprivation, there is resilience, connection, and even hope within these communities.
View the full series here.