The exhibition initially comprised over 200 photographs and slides, articulating the life of the city from predominately working class perspectives. Opening on 17 October 1983 at the People's Theatre, Conway Mill, on the nationalist side of the ‘peace wall’, the exhibition attracted interest from all over the city.
Today, Belfast Exposed is Northern Ireland’s principal gallery of contemporary photography, commissioning, publishing and showing work by artists and photographers from Northern Ireland and across the world.