Bearing witness: using collaborative photography to investigate collective trauma in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This thesis examines collective trauma in Northern Ireland through the lens of collaborative photography, exploring how trauma is experienced, transmitted, and visually represented in a post-conflict society. Despite the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the psychological and cultural legacies of the Troubles continue to shape individual and collective identities. This research investigates how collaborative photography exists as both a research method and representational tool, enabling individuals and communities to engage with their shared experiences while challenging dominant narratives of trauma. It serves as a conduit for consolidation and understanding, capturing not just the historical remnants of conflict, but the lived and ongoing experiences of participants.

Through an interdisciplinary approach, this research integrates trauma theory, social science, and visual methodologies, exploring the ways in which trauma is preserved and perpetuated across generations. Photography, as a medium, captures traces of the past embedded in the present, revealing the spectral evidence of trauma that remains unseen yet deeply felt. By working directly with individuals affected by the Troubles, this research employs a collaborative photographic process that disrupts traditional top-down narratives, instead prioritising agency, ethics, and representation.

This research found that collaborative photography serves as a powerful medium for expressing the often intangible and nonlinear nature of trauma, revealing another layer in the hidden social and psychological boundaries that persist in Northern Ireland. Additionally, this research contributes to broader discussions on visual culture, memory studies, and participatory research methods, offering a replicable model for exploring collective trauma in other communities. Ultimately, this research suggests that to bear witness through photography is not simply to observe, but to engage with, reframe, and challenge the narratives of trauma, both through visual storytelling and shared experience, as a step toward understanding how the past remains materially and psychologically embedded in everyday life for many.

Date of Award	Mar 2026
Original language	English
Sponsors	Department for the Economy
Supervisor	Paul Seawright (Supervisor), Ken Grant (Supervisor) & Clare Gallagher (Supervisor)