[1][2] It was Northern Ireland's first dedicated photographic gallery[3][4] and in 2018 Sean O'Hagan in The Guardian described it as "the key independent space for contemporary photography" there.

[5] Belfast Exposed houses a 20×7 m gallery for the exhibition of contemporary photography, digital archive browsing facilities, a spacious black and white photographic darkroom and a digital editing suite in its Donegall Street premises.

[6] It was established "to challenge and subvert media representations of the Troubles-torn city".

[5] The gallery has focused on the production of socially and politically engaged work, the development and exhibition of community photography.

Training is used to encourage local communities to use photography to record and understand their environment.