Incredible and touching photographs showing life on a dump in Freetown, captured by a former child soldier taken by rebels when he was nine-years-old, are on display in Bridport Arts Centre.

Nathaniel Sesay, aka Mash P, was born in Taiama, Southern Sierra Leone. Captured by rebels when he was nine-years-old and forced to fight in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war, he spent five years in the jungle. After the war, rejected by family, he lived on the streets of Freetown for 12 years, using music to explore corruption, his isolation and the stigma of being a child soldier.

Frequently stigmatised because of his past, Mash took up photography in 2018 and began taking photographs on Bume Dirty Box, the biggest rubbish dump in Freetown where many families scrape an existence. He followed a young boy called Mamadu who was the same age as Mash when he was captured by rebels. These images give an honest portrayal of life on the dump.

Mash has had exhibitions in London, Manchester and Portland, USA.

The exhibition at Bridport Arts Centre features photographs and video and will be supported by a screening of a BBC documentary about Nathaniel's life, with the date to be confirmed.

Mash discovered the charity WAYout eight years ago and recorded an album, Mr President, playing a mixture of Afrobeat and dance hall. 

"Music brings me peace," he said, and as time goes by his music has become increasingly upbeat with dance music like Static alongside the more serious tracks such as After the Jungle, which features Frank Turner.

WAYout is a UK registered charity that has been working in Sierra Leone since 2008, working with street and disadvantaged youth offering training and free facilities for creating music, digital media, film and photography, and other art forms.

The exhibition will be on display at Bridport Arts Centre until June 18.