Mervyn Smyth is a photographer with a background in photo journalism and community education, and an early member of Belfast Exposed. Mervyn joined the Belfast Exposed project as a trainee in the early 1990s and has been working full time as Community Engagement Coordinator since 2011, developing projects with community groups and schools across Northern Ireland. Mervyn has developed course content and accredited courses with Queens University School of Education, Open Learning and the Open College Network. In 2006 and 2008 Mervyn was photographer in residence with the Honfleur gallery, Anacostia (Washington DC) and hosted an exchange to Belfast by DC based artist, poet and musician Fred Joiner, who worked alongside Mervyn with local communities in north Belfast and Dunmurray, as well as delivering a poetry event for the gallery. Mervyn has developed a community photography project with Springboard, involving young people from Belfast and Dublin in accredited photography training and a collaborative design programme, which led to the unveiling of a major new mural on the ‘peace wall’ dividing west Belfast, featuring past and present images of the Falls and Shankill and marking UN International Peace Day.