Teenage girls growing up in the ex-mining villages of East Durham: an exploration of their everyday lives and of their rites of passage, friendship, responsibility, graduation, love and motherhood.

"Each group of girls had a special place to which they would always go. At first they thought it was strange that I wanted to photograph their lives, but then, maybe, it was something a bit different; maybe they liked someone taking a bit of notice. I loved their sense of humour, was shocked at times by their innocence, at others by their knowledge and by the experiences they have had to deal with.

"One of the girls, in trouble with the police for drugs and in care for a time, was three months pregnant when I first met her, standing in shock and disbelief, not sure who the father was. I later watched her lovingly feed her daughter and listened to adults talking about how much she had grown up. The girls opened up a glimpse into their lives in all their contradictions and complexities: at home, on the streets, following interests, out on the town... And there was the American style school prom, choosing dresses, having their hair and make-up done and badgering their teacher to let me come too." Karen Robinson

Developed between May 2004 and August 2005, All Dressed Up was commissioned by Side Gallery as part of the Coalfield Stories commissions.