Project Blog
Community Supervision: Seen and Supervised
They say a picture tells a thousand words — and after our recent photo exhibition, I’d have to agree!
Our art easels popped up right in the middle of a busy walkway in East Kilbride Shopping Centre — a brilliant venue suggested by one of our participants. Each easel displayed striking images submitted by research participants from across the UK and Ireland. We had invited people on community orders or licences to “share an image that best describes how you feel about being on your order or licence,” and asked staff to contribute images that captured the supervisory relationship.
Over two days, nearly 50 people paused on their shopping trips to stop, look, and reflect on the role and impact of community supervision. The images turned heads, sparked curiosity, and drew people in to ask questions — Who made these? What do they mean? Why are you here?
The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Many people shared feelings of empathy and connection with the images and the stories behind them. This was both moving and a little surprising, as public conversations around criminal justice can often be negative. Instead, people told us how important it was to see the reality of others’ experiences — to understand, to empathise, and to recognise our shared humanity. One man said, “Without the captions, you wouldn’t know these images were from people in the justice system — it just shows we’re all experiencing something.”
It was also interesting how many visitors related the images about the role of probation to their own roles and work — especially in areas like healthcare and support services. Many people engaged with the images on a personal level, opening up about their own challenges with mental health, addiction, and financial struggles which we think helps break down barriers and stigma which can often surround people in the justice system- including those supervised in the community.
We came away encouraged — not just by the turnout, but by the rich conversations the exhibition sparked. It reminded us of the power of photography: as a way to capture experiences that are often hard to put into words, and as a bridge for dialogue about what community supervision is, and what it could be.
This exhibition was funded by the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2025, through the University of Strathclyde, under the theme ‘My World of Work’.
