THE PROGRAM

IMAG(in)E is a free summer photography program for high school students in New York City, with an emphasis on those living in The Bronx. For an extended period over the summer, classes take place every Saturday at the Boogie Down Grind Café — a third-space in Hunts Point. Equipping NYC high schoolers with the knowledge and tools of film photography, IMAG(in)E challenges students to think within the black photographic tradition and critically engage their communities through photography. By democratizing access to photography, we hope to foster new ways of seeing and expressing life in and around The Bronx — to create a unique space for students to tell their own stories with the care they merit. In so doing, the program aims to showcase how photography can serve not only as a tool for documentation and advocacy but also as a means to draw closer to oneself, one's family, and one's community.

STUDENT WORK

Through hands-on instruction, students learn how to shoot, develop, and work with 35mm film. Through weekly shooting assignments, students gain the confidence and skills to become storytellers through photography. IMAG(in)E culminates in a final exhibition where students display their work for families, friends, and the surrounding community to see at Bronxlandia. At the end of the program, students are encouraged to keep the 35mm cameras provided to them, in hopes that they continue to chase photography.

CURRICULUM

Taking inspiration from The Kamoinge Workshop and Freedom Schools, we believe in the power of arts education to build community, raise consciousness, and equip young minds with the necessary tools to tell powerful stories about their communities. This comes with the understanding that the camera has historically been used to document black life in violent ways. IMAG(in)E’s curriculum is based on the tradition of black photographers who have leveraged film photography to reclaim the narrative, centering care, concern, and a liberatory spirit in their approach to photography. These photographers push the medium’s limits, they photograph in places otherwise unseen, and they fundamentally contest popular ideas of beauty, power, value, and community. We hope through IMAG(in)E, our students can do the same.

FIELD TRIPS

Students enjoyed a range of field trips throughout the duration of the program. In 2024, excursions included:

  • A private tour guided by Caitlyn Ryan at the Museum of Modern Art to view LaToya Ruby Frazier’s exhibition, Monuments of Solidarity

  • A visit to The Whitney Museum of American Art’s special collections guided by Omar Jason Farah to explore prints from the Kamoinge Workshop

  • A trip to Princeton University to learn how to make silver gelatin prints in the darkroom

APPLY

Applications for the 2025 summer program will open May 2025.