Photography documenting everyday life is the best social commentary, explained Frankie Quinn, documentarist and director of the Belfast Archive Project. He was addressing a seminar under the title, ‘The Photo Project’, at the fourth edition of the International Photography Festival XPOSURE 2019, the region’s biggest photography event currently on at the Expo Centre Sharjah.

Quinn’s documentation of Belfast, its community life and conflict scenarios is considered one of the finest examples of photojournalism.

“Being part of the community helped me gain access to situations that others normally did not get,” he said while describing his photographic experiences since 1982, during which he documented his community, including its role in the conflict in Ireland.

Armed with just a 20 mm camera, Quinn managed to capture stark images of everyday community life in the 1980s. Shooting pictures in the era of black and white images meant Quinn had to make do with the play of light and shadows to bring life to his pictures. His photographs also show how effective angles can add depth to what could otherwise be dull images.

“Through my photographs, I have tried to document stories of survival and the appalling housing conditions of the period,” Quinn said. He has also preserved slices of time showing how people made the best of special events and sporting activities to add colour to drab lifestyles of the period. His pictures also speak of the street culture and how ordinary people tried to get on with everyday life in the midst of trouble and conflict.

Quinn spent considerable part of his journey as a photographer covering the Irish conflict, documenting some of the key periods of history. He recalled those sombre moments, including how during a 15-year period he covered up to 84 funerals. Apart from the Irish conflict, he has covered other areas of conflict, including Israel/Palestine, Turkish Kurdistan and the Balkans.

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau, the four-day XPOSURE 2019 runs until Sunday September 22. Since it started four years ago, the International Photography Festival has become a leading platform to portray some of the most powerful images, as well as the display of the latest in photography devices.