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My Last Day at Seventeen: Powerful portraits of teenagers coming of age in Ireland

My Last Day at Seventeen is a series by American photographer Doug DuBois that documents the lives of teenagers coming of age in Ireland, capturing and exploring the promise and adventure of childhood with a focus on its fragility and inevitable loss.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist.

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist.

DuBois first went to the Emerald Isle at the invitation of the Sirius Arts Centre in 2009. What began as a month-long residency grew into a five-year project about youth, Ireland, and an exceptional group of young people from a few blocks of a housing estate in Russell Heights.

He gained entry to the community when two of its residents, Kevin and Eirn (who would later become central subjects of his work), took him to a local hangout spot, opening his eyes “to a world of the not-quite adults, struggling—publicly and privately—through the last moments of their childhood.”

My Last Day at Seventeen is set to become a photo book with the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to get it printed and published. Raising nearly $30,000 so far, DuBois already has enough to turn his ambition into a reality. So keep your eyes peeled for his book launching soon.

Via Kickstarter

Four teenage boys sitting against a brick wall, wearing casual 1990s-style clothing including Adidas jackets and a Carlsberg football shirt
Children playing on and around a white concrete structure in front of terraced houses in a residential estate
Teenager in light blue hoodie standing in a bright yellow hallway holding a cooking pot, looking pensively to the side
A teenager lies back on a green bin with a spade resting against their chest in a residential garden setting
Young person in a yellow graphic t-shirt holding a drink with a straw against a blue wall, from Doug DuBois's series My Last Day at Seventeen
A teenager balances on a curved street lamp above a residential street lined with colourful terraced houses in Russell Heights, Dublin
Young person wearing a white hood over dark clothing, looking directly at the camera against a blurred green outdoor background
A teenager in a pink patterned jacket climbs a concrete wall covered in graffiti and weathered texture in an urban setting
Shirtless teenager with a tattoo on his shoulder stands at a waterfront, with colourful houses and a fire hydrant visible behind him in a residential area
Woman in black strapless top and tartan skirt standing in a narrow alley between terraced houses, with potted plants and garden items around her
Blonde teenage girl smiling at the camera with a blurred housing estate and overcast sky behind her
Children and teenagers gather on a grass lawn in front of a large concrete building, some wearing white sheets like ghosts, others in everyday clothes
A girl in a blue tracksuit stands in a courtyard surrounded by younger children playing with bikes and a scooter near a peach-coloured residential building in Russell Heights, Dublin
Young Irish teenager wearing a white and orange jacket over a black shirt, looking directly at the camera with a blurred grey background
Bare-chested teenage boy leaning against a weathered stone wall with green countryside behind him under a cloudy sky
Three teenagers by a moss-covered stone wall, one performing a handstand in a blue top while two others stand nearby watching
Shirtless teenage boy standing at a waterside railing, looking downward, with a grey water and distant shoreline behind him
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