May 13, 2016
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
Aransy Feliciano, 16, left, and co-instructor Erik James Montgomery discuss the layout of Feliciano's printed photographs, which will be included in the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's Teen Photo Exhibition. The exhibit opens May, 12.
With its latest exhibit, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's Teen Photo free after-school program is out to prove not all teen photos are of the Instagram-selfie variety.
"I hope visitors to the exhibit are impressed by the professionalism and creativity that high school students can put on the walls," Josh Kleiman, one of three instructors for the program, told PhillyVoice. "It’s good when people become impressed by the youth within our city. I think that, in many cases, it's something people have a negative view of. I want this kind of stuff to change people’s minds about that and remind them of what it used to be like when they were young — and that teenagers have a lot to say, and we need to give them a voice to say and show that."
Philadelphia Photo Arts Center first launched its Teen Photo program in January 2010 to do just that. At the time, it consisted of one staff member and a handful of student participants from public and charter schools throughout the city.
Today, it consists of 44 students and three staff members who meet once a week for eight months to learn the ins and outs of digital photography — from exposure to shutter speed, Photoshop to portfolio-organizing. Each student is equipped with a DSLR camera they're able to take home with them.
Projects throughout the year culminate in an annual photo exhibit. This year is the first time the works will be displayed in Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's main gallery at 1400 N. American St. in Kensington. Those photos will be on display through the next two weeks.
Inside is a diverse collection of approximately 450 photographs, all capturing Philadelphia or its inhabitants in some way. Students picked anywhere from five to 20 different photographs taken during the year to showcase on the walls. Some capture nature, some capture Philadelphians in a studio and others capture street life.
It is, essentially, the city through their eyes.
"It’s amazing to see from their perspective what they do, and the courage they have to photograph the public," Josh Brilliant, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's education coordinator, told PhillyVoice. "But then we also see photographers who take risks and are working in the studio with lighting. There's one [student] who did these amazing portraits in a studio, painting the body with gold leaf and shining colors on it to get these amazing effects — thinking of all the genres or conventions of photography and having them explore that, they get so excited ..."
"They love it because it’s so completely new to them, knowing it’s not just looking at something and taking a picture — not just taking a photograph, but creating a photograph.”
Coraletta Tucker, 17, arranges her printed photographs before adhering them to the wall for the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's Teen Photo Exhibition which opens on May, 12.
The program isn't about training future photographers, Brilliant explained, it's about teaching kids visual language, showing them they can use photography skills to complement other careers and areas of their lives.
"When they use social media all the time, putting out these pictures, [we want them to think about] what it is that's saying about themselves, or their peers. Just understanding that representation and being able to intelligently decipher — that is, to me, the most important thing," Brilliant said. "And, of course, a deep love of the arts — things that go deeper — would be fantastic.”
Justice Understanding, a student in the Teen Photo program at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, has explored digital mixed media and Photoshop techniques in his recent work, which will be displayed in the Teen Photo Exhibition.
Seventeen-year-old senior Justice Understanding, from Bodine High School in Northern Liberties, is still mulling what role visual arts will play in his career. But, he told PhillyVoice, being in the program for the past two years has been an eye-opening experience for how he sees the arts.
"I’m a good visual artist — I can draw. And people push me to that. And I’m like, ‘I don’t really like it like that. It’s just something I can do' — I don’t enjoy it enough that I ever thought of doing it as a career," Justice said. "But when I saw the reception, it was like, ‘This is how it would look to do something cool, to put it up and have everyone come through.’ It made me like the art scene more.”
Coreletta Tucker, meanwhile, a 17-year-old senior from Parkway Center City High School, sees the program as a gateway to her larger interest in animation. Learning Photoshop, she cited as one example, is a step in the direction of more complicated programs.
Photographs that were made by student Elizabeth Nguyen, 18, that will be part of the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center's Teen Photo Exhibition, which opens May 12.
And then there's 18-year-old Elizabeth Nguyen, a senior from Prep Charter High School in Point Breeze, who's pursuing a nursing program at Penn State Brandywine but looks forward to keeping photography as a hobby.
The goal moving forward, Brilliant said, is to continue to expand the program. Next year, the program anticipates growth to more than 60 students.
