Untethered: Joseph Szabo and Siân Davey present 50 years of being young

Michael Hoppen Gallery presents "Untethered" – an exhibition of two photographic series by Joseph Szabo and Siân Davey which explore on the vulnerability, beauty and ambivalence of youth that were made nearly 50 years apart.

Joe Szabo began his Teenage series when he was appointed as an art teacher at Malverne High School, Long Island in the early 70s. He started photographing his pupils as a way of engaging with them and to build mutual respect. The approach proved to be very effective and Szabo's students became his on-going subjects for the next 25 years, as he photographed them at school, at home and at play. The resulting images are a remarkable evocation of the seventies and eighties and yet there is also something timeless and compelling about Szabo's portrayal of the universal teenager.

In contrast, Martha is an on-going collaboration between British photographer Siân Davey and her step-daughter Martha, which explores their evolving relationship as well as the lives of Martha and her close friends as they journey through their later teenage years in rural Devon. The level of trust between Davey and all her subjects is reflected in the intimacy and honesty of the photographs, which range from idyllic pastoral scenes reminiscent of Cezanne's Bathers to an interior shot of a hungry moment eating pizza in a late night kebab shop.

Davey, who is also a psychotherapist, describes her approach to the project: 'Firstly, as a mother I'm interested in the relational aspects of adolescence. I'm also fascinated with this developmental stage when a child starts to individuate and separate from their parents. There is this particular point in time when you have a child and adult in the same body, which is why it's such a complex and potentially confusing time. During this period of transition, there is a very short and specific 'window' when a person can behave in a way, which is free of the weight of societal expectations and norms. Before too long the window closes and we can forget how it felt to be 'untethered'.

"Untethered" will be on show at Michael Hoppen Gallery from 6 April - 20 May 2017