Description: Drawing on data from mixed methods project situated in a large Irish university, this paper will explore how two small cohorts of mature students from what the university designate as 'disadvantaged communities', perceive and make sense of life and work both in and out of higher education. The first cohort of students are enrolled on the University's access program and the second group are first year undergraduates. The study is concerned with exploring what Henry Giroux (1992) characterises as 'border crossings'. Borders in Giroux's context are divisions (spatial, temporal, economic, political, social, cultural and in the context of Ireland, religious and geopolitical), between communities. Criss-crossing the borders between cultures and communities is highly relevant in the case of both groups, as the students are engaged in a continuous process of (re)negotiation, (re)orientation and consolidation of their entry (and in some cases exit) into and around a new community and culture. In turn this has a reciprocal and powerful impact upon their lifeworlds outside of the University, generating the need to reconcile conflict between a multitude of new and old demands, responsibilities and identities. Interlinked with Giroux is Bourdieu's conceptual tools of habitus and field how when conjoined with the concept of borders, provdies us a powerful set of explanatory tools to understand the students 'migration' from different communittees. Given the richness and diversity of data, the paper will primarily focus on the students' production of still images (reflexive photo participation) and subsequent group and individual photo elicitation sessions as way of developing a shared understanding of their experiences both inside and outside academia. Methodology: The study was designed from the start to have at its center the application of a technique known as reflexive photo-participation, wherebyy the students were given digital cameras to document factets and aspects of their lives both as a student and non-students. In essence it is an extension of and deepening of photo-elicitation, however rather than being presented with images that could be taken from anywhere, research participants generate their own images which are then used as the basis of discussions. The reflexivity occurs around the dialogue pertaining to both the content (denotation and connotation) and context of image production. Here the distinction between researcher generated and researcher found images begins to blur considerably, as does the more traditional fracture lines of researcher and researched. This I should contrast with the more traditional 'passive' approaches whereby due to the fear of excessive reactivity and methodological contamination, a distance tends to be established. All of the students had access to computers and the software that came with the cameras allowed them to access their images, without having to rely on me to download and store them. Though at the outset, we agreed (the students and myself) that I could have a copy of their images as well, but they would remain their property. I would effectively be 'borrowing them' for the purposes of the study. Conclusions: The findings so far echo those of other studies which have explored the relatioship between social class and the transitition into higher education. For example it is a profound ontological re-construction of the self (re Giddons and the notion of reflexive modernity), it is also a 'risky' process