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The Winners of Our Teen Photo Essay Contest Depict Community and Why It Matters
From 528 teen entries, we have chosen 10 extraordinary pieces. Take a look.
By The Learning Network
Our “Where We Are” photo essay contest asked a lot of students. First they had to choose and document an interesting local, offline community, both photographing and interviewing its members. Then, they had to weave it all together with an introduction and captions so that, whether they focused on a roller derby team in Los Angeles or nomadic reindeer herders in China, we viewers were taken inside.
But it wasn’t the technical requirements that intimidated these teenagers most. Instead, they told us over and over in their accompanying process statements, the hardest and the most rewarding part of the project was getting up the nerve to approach people they didn’t know.
Here is how Allison Park, 16, a runner-up, described it:
Living in suburban New Jersey all my life, I’ve always been on the outskirts of New York City, not only geographically but culturally. As a teen who has always been into alternative music and style, I have grown up feeling like I would fit in so much better with N.Y.C. culture and N.Y.C. teens. That’s why I seized the opportunity to immerse myself in an underground, D.I.Y. group of N.Y.C. kids making music. The hardest part for me was honestly getting over the fear of reaching out to this foreign community. These kids were intimidating to me because I thought they were so cool. But as I got over my fear and actually got to know them, I realized that everyone was welcoming. I made friends right off the bat.
Allison calls the community she documented “a vessel of connection, expression and escape,” and that feeling is palpable not just in her work, but in the work of all the winners. Because of the length and complexity of each piece, we are featuring just one photo essay in full. But after you scroll through our winner’s delightful piece , we hope you’ll also visit this collection to see how nine more runners-up overcame fear to make something wonderful.
As always, we invite you to leave comments for these young photojournalists to tell them what you thought.
All finalists are listed in alphabetical order by the creator’s first name. If you are one of the finalists and would like your last name published, please have a parent or guardian complete our permission form [PDF] and send it to us at [email protected] .
Chloe Moon Flaherty , 18, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Los Angeles: “ The L.A. Derby Dolls Take Up Space ”
To see excerpts from nine more excellent pieces, visit this post.
Allison Park , 16 , Ramapo High School, Franklin Lakes, N.J., and JD Noonan , 16, New Design High School, New York, N.Y.: “The N.Y.C. Underground Teen D.I.Y. Music Scene”
Andrew Li, 17 , Tsinghua International School, Beijing: “The Last Reindeer Herders of China”
Finn Feldman, 17 , Centaurus High School, Lafayette, Colo.: “At This Rock Climbing Gym, ‘Everyone Belongs’”
Hannah Tang, 15 , Western Academy of Beijing, Beijing: “The Boys in Ballet”
Jaewon Yoon, 15 , Salisbury School, Salisbury, Conn.: “The Football Team at This All-Boys Academy Teaches Its Diverse Players How to Be Brothers”
Jiajia Long, 17 , Maumee Valley Country Day School, Toledo, Ohio: “At Maumee Valley Country Day School, Fifth-Grade Girls Unite for District Championship Dreams”
Madeline Leluc, 15 , Charleston County School of the Arts, North Charleston, S.C.: “A Four-Legged Community for Everyone”
Ruixin Zhang, 16 , Tsinglan School, Dongguan, China: “At Dehong, Yunnan, Jingpo Children Are Branching Out With Their Own ‘Prop Roots’”
Sydney Voorhees, 17 , Willow Canyon High School, Surprise, Ariz.: “After Years of Indigenous Trauma, The Indian Fair and Market Unites All Walks of Life”
Honorable Mentions
Alysson Estes, 16 , Jackson High School, Jackson, Mo.: “The Southern Illinois Pagan Alliance Creates Community and Family for Everyone”
Antonio Suarez, 18 , Eric J., Manuel A.and Andrea R. , Robinson School, San Juan, Puerto Rico: “Buzzer Beater: A Puerto Rican Phenomenon”
Caliyah Bassette, 17 , Glenbard North High School, Carol Stream, Ill.: “The Show Stompers”
Carleigh Bowen-Aretz, 17 , Strath Haven High School, Wallingford, Pa.: “Finding Community at the Firehouse”
Catalina Campos, 18 , The International School Nido de Aguilas, Santiago, Chile: “Chilean Rodeo: What Is Behind Each ‘Clasificatorio’?”
Celina Huo, 16 , Aliso Niguel High School, Aliso Viejo, Calif.: “Magic of the Shea Center Impacts the Lives of the Disabled in Orange County”
Danna Ramirez, 17 , Alisal High School, Salinas, Calif.: “Scorching Days and Aching Backs”
Derek Jin, 17 , Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Mass.: “Change the Game”
Dove Williams, 17 , Ithaca High School, Ithaca, N.Y.: “ReUse: Experiments in a Circular Economy”
Elaine Wang, 13 , and Elsa W., American School Hong Kong, Hong Kong: “The Stories Hidden in a Car Park”
Emma Pakola, 16 , Tappan Zee High School, Orangeburg, N.Y.: “Together Down in the Pit”
Ivana Nguyen, 15 , Marblehead High School, Marblehead, Mass.: “Nurturing Nature’s Palette: The Acorn Gallery School of Art”
Jane Wagle, 17 , Elizabeth S., and Lana C. , Lakewood High School, Lakewood, Ohio: “Burning for Roller Derby”
Kamya Ramachandran, 16 , Podar International School, Mumbai, India: “In Mumbai, Sunday Church Visits Are an Oasis for These Au Pairs”
Madelyn M. Bae, 15 , Hunter College High School, New York, N.Y.: “The Dance Studio: The Magic You Don’t See”
Mathias Nguyen-Van-Duong, 17 , Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, N.J.: “The Boys in the Boat”
Mellissa Nielsen-Williams, 17 , Varndean College, Brighton and Hove, England: “In a Bar in Brighton, Every Artist Has a Studio”
Muai Li, 13 , Arcola Intermediate School, Trooper, Pa.: “A Tribe Hidden in the Mountains”
Rongyu Zhou, 16 , Beijing National Day School, Beijing: “The Water Is Motionless and Fluid”
Ryan Kim, 17 , St. Johnsbury Academy Jeju, Seogwipo, South Korea: “The D.J. House”
Stella Keyes, 16 , Mayfield Senior School, Pasadena, Calif.: “For Teenagers in Los Angeles, the High School Band Scene Redefines ‘Connection’”
Wanyi Li, 16 , Shanghai Foreign Language School Affiliated to SISU, Shanghai: “The Culture of Sharing: How Residents in Yuqing Confront Modern Challenges”
Xianglin Lyu, 15 , Keystone Academy, Beijing: “The Da-Liang Mountains”
Additional Finalists
Here is a PDF of all of our finalists, including 55 additional entries that made it to the last round of judging.
Thank you to our contest judges.
From the team who produces the Where We Are series that inspired this contest: Alice Fang, Eve Lyons and Jennifer Harlan
From The Learning Network: Jeremy Engle, Katherine Schulten, Michael Gonchar and Natalie Proulx