Photo: work produced by pupils at the Primary Special Facility, Westdene School with photographer Polly Arnett.

Andrea Geeson made her way to the University of Brighton to have a look at the fruit of a fascinating project.

Telling Stories is a vibrant exhibition of artwork by primary school children, created alongside established photographers, on show at the University of Brighton's Café Gallery until May 1.

The project, the brain child of Brighton Photo Biennial Project Manager Juliette Buss, sent photographers Tom Wichelow and Polly Arnett into local schools, Westdene School and The Alternative Centre for Education. Their specific brief was to create photography in a school without a dark room or a huge amount of money.

The result is impressive, original artwork by the children that forms a snap shot into the world of 10 and 11-year-olds.

Spanning three days the project began with a visit to a gallery, allowing the children to see other photographers work:

"First they came to the gallery and saw work by Peter Fraser and Rachel Harrison," Tom Wichelow told the 24 Hour Museum. "I wanted them to react very honestly. Art is about your own personal reactions and I wanted them to see that their opinions were just as valid as the Guardian’s art critic."

Having worked as a social worker before enrolling on a photography course in Brighton, Tom enjoyed the interpersonal aspect of working alongside the children.

Photo: work produced by pupils at the Primary Special Facility, Westdene School with photographer Polly Arnett.

"The work I am doing now is a great crossover. It is nice for my photographic creative side to mix in with my people skills."

After the gallery trip the children were encouraged to talk about self-portraits before creating their own. Nine students were involved but unfortunately only two sets of parents would allow work to be displayed, which does mean the exhibition is small.

However, it is still worth seeing for the incredible pictures that are a visual equivalent of, and as revealing as, a diary entry.

One of the young artists, 11-year-old Kane, was present as his work was unveiled. With pride radiating in his eyes, he described his work - a collage of things that matter right now to an 11-year-old boy: "I put on my brother, my sister, my friends, my Lego model."

The most prominent image in the picture though is a Ford Escort convertible car, which features twice and is obviously a bona-fide family member: "They are both the same car but they are my dad’s and my pets are on there - Bruno my dog and the cats, my Horrible History magazines and Bart Simpson," said Kane.

"I like art, I’m quite good at drawing. All my family are going to come and see it. I’ll probably bring some more down tomorrow," he added excitedly.

Hilary Reed, Teacher in Charge at Westdene explained: "In this project they were given the opportunity to be creative for three days, non – stop, with immense enthusiasum."

Photo: work in progress with pupils at the Alternative Centre for Education and photographer Tom Wichelow. Photo: Tom Wichelow.

"The end result is the book but what can’t be seen are the other experiences the children had. For some children it was their first experience of an art gallery. Most importantly was the increase in the children’s self esteem."

Polly Arnett, the other photographer involved used the inexpensive method of Cyanotype photography when working with the children.

"It had to be a process that could be used without needing any photography facilities and Cyanotype is a process that uses chemicals from a basic science department that makes the paper photo sensitive," she said. "It is then exposed in the sunlight, and the pictures come out in a beautiful blue colour."

The children decided on images to be included, so that, as Polly explained, the work would be personal: "At that age, your world is very small and based primarily around your family and friends and what’s in your rucksack," she said.

The images were magnified and made into positive and negative forms before pictures of the children, taken in a passport booth were laid over the top. Three pictures on display present the process in a coherent way and demonstrate the different phases of the artistic endeavour.

The exhibition is small but in the photographs and splashed across every page of the book is the story of how the experience made the children confident about creating art.

Like a picture book without any text, the children’s work illustrates what they gained from working with the photographers and is more affecting than a published record.