Meet Toby Binder: The German photographer capturing the lives of Belfast's divided youth
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In the heart of Belfast, where many of the peace walls that once divided communities still stand, German photographer Toby Binder has focused his lens on the daily life of a new generation growing up in the shadow of the Troubles.
"Most of the kids I photographed were born after the peace agreement, so they didn't live through the Troubles directly. They only know about it through what their families and communities have told them. But in many of those families, the conflict is still a topic - it's still there," explains Binder.
He adds: "A lot of families still carry trauma. Many of them lost someone, and that pain is still very present. So the kids grow up in that environment. They know what happened, and where it happened - almost every street corner has a story. So in that way, the past is still very visible."
His project, "Divided Youth of Belfast", which recently won the
2025 Sony World Photography Awards
' documentary category, is a deeply intimate portrait of adolescence in one of Europe's most historically divided cities. Shot in black and white, the images capture the quiet and every day moments in some of Belfast's most segregated neighbourhoods.
Though the armed conflict officially ended over two decades ago, the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland remains to this day. Protestant Unionist and Catholic Nationalist communities remain largely separated, with peace lines still standing and fewer than 8% of children attending integrated schools.
In this conversation with Euronews Culture, Binder reflects on the process of building trust with his subjects, the importance of long-term engagement, and the hope he sees in Belfast's youth.
Integrated schools educate less than 8% of pupils in Northern Ireland.
Credit: Toby Binder/Sony World Photography Awards
Euronews Culture: Where did your fascination with Ireland and these British communities come from - and in particular, why Belfast?
Toby Binder:
Well, the real beginning was actually during my degree. I had to create a book, and I chose to make it about football in Scotland - partly because I knew Scotland, and I knew about the deep passion Scottish people have for football. It turned into a big book. I think I worked on it for almost a year, throughout my final year at university. I spent a lot of time in Scotland, documenting not just professional football but also kids playing in the streets. I was fascinated by how many children you could still find playing football outside. This was in 2004 or 2005, and even then, there were so many kids kicking a ball around in the streets.
Naturally, this was mostly in working-class communities, where I ended up spending a lot of time. That's when I realised this was something I was really interested in—how young kids try to make a living and find a way out of these tough environments.
Eventually, that led me to Belfast. Most of my time in Scotland was spent in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and I also shot a bit in Liverpool and Manchester. But I ended up in Belfast around the time of Brexit. The idea behind the Belfast project was to show how the two communities there are still, in many ways, separate. You could really see that divide in the way people voted in the Brexit referendum.
You've been quoted by Sony as saying that there is hardly any other country in Europe where past conflict is still present in life as it is in Northern Ireland. Could you elaborate on this and in what ways is it still divided?
Well, I mean, the most obvious thing is, of course, you still have all the walls and fences - you still have this physical division between people. And that's still very present if you go to the working-class communities. I also have to mention, if you go to other parts of Belfast, things have really changed. In many respects, it's probably not the same anymore. But in those working-class areas, you still see the separation.
And when I spoke to the kids, I realised that in their daily lives, there's still no real interaction between the communities. They still grow up separately. Not many kids go to integrated schools. It's not like there's fighting every day. The conflict isn't present in that way. But it's still in the minds of people.
A photo from Binder's 'Divided Youth of Belfast" series
Credit: Toby Binder/Sony World Photography Awards
Is that something you find surprising when you go there? Because you're seeing both sides—and in the photos, the children look the same. They're wearing the same clothes, probably speaking in similar dialects. Does that feel bizarre to you?
Yeah, I was actually quite surprised. Because, like I said, I could go from one side to the other—I was shooting on both sides, talking to people in both communities. And I was hearing a lot of similar things, seeing a lot of similar things. So for me, it felt completely normal to move between the two.
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But then I realised - okay, for them, it's not. And that was something really, yeah, kind of shocking. Because I've always believed that people should live together, work together, and try to improve the situation for everyone. So I was really surprised that there's still such a strong and deep division.
You're an outsider to these communities. You're from Germany, coming in without knowing these people. How do you approach them and build a sense of trust? Do you think being an outsider actually helped?
Yeah, I think being from outside was a big advantage. They knew I didn't belong to either community. When I spoke to photographer friends from Ireland or England, it was a very different experience for them. No matter who they are or how they behave, people immediately judge them - they're seen as being from one side or the other. It doesn't even matter what they personally think about the situation.
So, for me, it probably helped that people saw me as neutral. And I am - I genuinely want to understand both sides. It was actually quite easy for me to build trust, especially because I was doing a long-term project. The first contact might be difficult, but when you come back, meet the same people again, and show them the photos from your last visit, that starts to build a relationship over time. They begin to realise that you're genuinely interested in their lives - that you're not just dropping in to take a photo and disappear. I met a lot of people repeatedly over a long period. And I think if you're honest with them, they sense that. From there, it's really just about building trust.
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A photo from Binder's 'Divided Youth of Belfast" series
Credit: Toby Binder
A photo from Binder's 'Divided Youth of Belfast" series
Credit: Toby Binder
When you're taking these photographs, how staged are they? Or are you more in the background, just observing?
I'm more in the background. I don't think you can stage something like this, because these aren't actors. It just wouldn't work. Sometimes people see my photography in the context of portraiture, but for me, it's much more documentary. Of course, I do take some portraits, but they come naturally out of the scene. I don't stage them - they're based on real, spontaneous moments and natural behavior.
I usually just spend a lot of time with the people I photograph. At the beginning, when you first tell them you're a photographer, they pose - they wait for you to take the photo, and once you do, they think it's done. But then I stay. And they start asking, 'How long are you going to stay?' It takes a little time for them to understand what I'm actually trying to do. After a while, they begin to relax. Some even said to me, 'Isn't this boring for you? We're not doing anything.' And that's when I know - it's exactly what I've been waiting for. That quiet, real moment. When they let you stay for long enough, that's when you can really wait for the right moment. And when it comes, that's when I take the photo.
You've spent a lot of time with these kids - you would've interacted with them, had conversations. What kind of impression did you get from them? How do young people in Belfast think about the conflict and peace today?
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Well, most of the kids I photographed were born after the peace agreement, so they didn't live through the Troubles directly. They only know about it through what their families and communities have told them. But in many of those families, the conflict is still a topic - it's still there. Like I mentioned earlier, the division hasn't completely disappeared, even though the peace agreement was signed a long time ago.
A lot of families still carry trauma. Many of them lost someone, and that pain is still very present. So the kids grow up in that environment - they inherit that history. They know what happened, and where it happened - almost every street corner has a story.
But on the other hand, I think the young people understand that this history shouldn't define their lives. They want to finish school, get jobs, and live like any other young person in Europe. I do think there's still pressure from older generations about how things should be. But slowly, I see young people starting to break away from that.
One thing that really surprised me - and gave me hope - was seeing more and more mixed teenage couples. One of the boys I met in 2016 and he was really talking bad about the other side. And when I returned there last year, I found out that he is now together with a girl from the other side. To me, that's the only real way forward. When people meet each other, spend time together, fall in love - that's how you move past all these old divisions.
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Toby Binder at the Sony World Photography Awards showcase at Somerset House.
Credit: Euronews Culture
What do you hope people take away from your work - especially those who are actually featured in it?
In all of my work, I think my main goal is to create understanding. To create empathy for other people's lives. If you can see someone else's daily life - really see it - then maybe you start to feel something. I hope people can connect with these images emotionally and see the human beings behind the stories.
With this project in particular, there was one moment that really stayed with me. I had brought a stack of photos from a previous visit and was showing them to the kids I'd photographed. At first, they were excited to see themselves and their friends, but then they started looking at the photos from 'the other side' - and they were really surprised. They were like, "Oh wow, it's like that over there?" And I realised then that many of them actually didn't know much about the other side at all.
That was back in 2016 or 2017. Things have changed a bit since then - there's more interaction now - but that moment was when the idea of the project really clicked for me. I wanted to show them that 'the others' aren't so different. That they're just people too. Later, when I finished the book, I made sure to give a copy to everyone who helped me, everyone who appeared in it.
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I remember giving one to a family, and the grandmother started flipping through it. She paused on a page and said, "Look at these kids - they're just like our kids." And for me, that was the whole point. That's what I want people to take away: the sense that we're all, deep down, the same.
So it's about division, but also about unity? That space in between?
Exactly. People often label this as a project about division, but for me, it's really about unity. It's about empathy. It's about showing what connects us, not just what separates us.
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