April 21 – June 30, 2018
Icebox Project Space, Crane Arts Building
Teen Photo is joining Inside Out, a global art project that transforms individual faces into a public statement. Our 2017-18 students had their portraits taken by lead instructor Erik James Montgomery. These portraits will be displayed on the outside wall of the Crane Arts Ice Box Building, in an installation that will join thousands of Inside Out portrait displays from across the world.
Our goal with this public art project is to draw attention to the youth that we serve. This year has proven that teens can start conversations that advocate for change, and can strengthen the community of Philadelphia and our nation. Teen Photo student and aspiring writer and poet Amanda Smith wrote our group statement:
We are the faces of a change, more so a movement. Each of us brings something ultimately different to the table, a group of diverse perspectives on life. Within every individual, there is a revolution worth fighting, a voice worth acknowledging, a moment worth embracing with pride, a story worth telling. You may see just faces in a photo, full of youth and diversity, however, we all surpass the simplicity of these photos. No, you cannot see the far reach of our doings, it is not written in black ink on white paper, but know that we are the faces that will transform the dynamics of life. It may not be the headlines of tomorrow’s newspaper, and you may not witness it today. Nonetheless, know that something big is happening, and every single one of us is responsible.
Sincerely yours, the game changers.
Teen Photo is supported by The Julian A. and Lois G. Brodsky Foundation, Connelly Foundation, David A. Cook Beautiful, Useful, Joyful Memorial Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, The Nessa Forman, David Forman, Eleanor and Solomon Forman Family Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial, Kinder Morgan Foundation, Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation, The Christopher Ludwick Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, PNC Charitable Trusts, and The Lawrence Saunders Fund.
Inside Out is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images are made into posters and sent back to the projectʼs co-creators, for them to exhibit in their own communities. Posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window, to a wall of an abandoned building, or in a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and be made available online at http://www.insideoutproject.net/. The INSIDE OUT project is a creation of the artist JR, recipient of the 2011 TED Prize (watch JR’s TED talk here).
The TED Prize is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $1,000,000 and the TED community’s resources and expertise to spark global change. The award offers support to build a project’s core infrastructure quickly – so that others can add their own collaborative action. The first TED Prize was awarded in 2005, born out of the TED Conference and a vision by the world’s leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and entertainers to change the world – one Wish at a time. What began as an unparalleled experiment to leverage the resources of the TED Community to spur global change has evolved into one of the most prestigious prizes. A TED Prize winner is a rare and powerful combination of someone who knows how to capture the imaginations and make a measurable impact, a visionary and a pragmatist, a dreamer and a doer. From Bono’s the ONE Campaign (’05 recipient) to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (’10 recipient) and JR’s Inside Out Project (’11 recipient), the TED Prize has helped to combat poverty, take on religious intolerance, improve global health, tackle child obesity, advance education, and inspire art around the world. For more information on the TED Prize, visit www.ted.com/prize.
