The Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, in collaboration with United Photo Industries and For Freedoms’ 50 State Initiative, presents “cit.i.zen.ship: reflections on rights by teen photographers” with photographs, collages, and videos by high school students from across the U.S. that speak directly to the current moment that students, educators, and artists alike are experiencing and responding to. More than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, a new sense of purpose is vibrating throughout our nation, prompting individuals to mobilize for societal change. These young artists and activists use various symbolic references to visually represent issues surrounding civil rights, resistance, environmental issues, immigration, race, class, gender, LGBTQ+ rights, gentrification, voting rights, disability rights, freedom of speech and more. High school students are not only responding to and engaging with human rights and social justice issues but also paving the way for new narratives in the future.

We put out an open call for photo-based work that engages issues of human rights and social justice. The high school students in this exhibition come from Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Philadelphia, Greenwich, Chicago, The Flathead Nation in Montana, and Los Angeles. We invite you to learn more about the participating artists in the notebook in the exhibition.

We will be presenting the larger exhibition of cit.i.zen.ship: reflections on rights in the NYU Photography & Imaging Galleries at Tisch School of the Arts, with work by working artists and photographers, college students, and high school students, from October 4, 2018 to January 18, 2019.