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Commune with the eyes of the future at 'The Unseen'
Alaina Johns
The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (PPAC) mounts The Unseen, a special weekend-long exhibition that gives its teen students a chance to explore their feelings and experiences through photographs, then lets the audience in on what led the youngsters to capture what they did. Gravy Studio + Gallery hosts the show from March 16 through 18.
The Unseen is an outgrowth of PPAC’s annual Teen Photo program, free and open to all public-high-school students in Philadelphia. Participants can access the full range of PPAC’s equipment and materials and meet every week for workshops, gallery visits, photo walks, and photo sharing. They build both critical and creative skills and develop confidence and excitement about learning. Each year, the program (64 students this season) culminates with a May exhibition at PPAC, where every student receives gallery space for their photos.
Phil Blumenkrantz developed and curated The Unseen, along with photojournalist Melanie Stengel, as a new contest for PPAC’s youth participants. Teen Photo students submitted their pictures for consideration. The Gravy Studio show features 21 images alongside handwritten explanations from the students about the stories lurking around and beyond the frame, because “each snapshot contains a hidden context that can only be exposed by the creator of the photo.”
The photos, which range from silhouettes to cityscapes to portraits, have all kinds of stories attached. Some cryptic and some emotionally detailed, they tackle social and gender divides, broken hearts, a first kiss, mental illness and suicide, grief and loss, fresh contemplations of historic places, and more. “We are reminded that the most meaningful photos extend far beyond what an outsider can see in the frame,” PPAC says.
The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center presents its Teen Photo students in The Unseen, on display at Gravy Studio + Gallery (910 N. 2nd Street) March 16 through 18. There will be an opening reception on Friday, March 16, from 5 to 7pm.
Above: A story accompanying one of the photos in The Unseen, by Asycurie Lombestova. (Image via PPAC.)
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