© Natalie Halford

The first public exhibition of the Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) 2011 Mentoring Program will take place at the Calumet Gallery in New York City on January 12th. The theme for the program is “Everything is Energy,” which the 60 mentees interpreted in a wide variety of ways to create a compelling collection of photo essays. Natalie Halford, from the University of Westminster, focused on photographing teenagers because “they are full of life and have boundless energy, they represent the now, however, everyone can relate to this energy as it is inscribed in all of us … we were all that age once.”

With financial assistance from ASMP Foundation, YPA coordinated 15 teams, mentored by 25 professional photographers, in cities around the world: U.S. (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego and Seattle), Canada (Toronto), China (Beijing), Thailand (Bangkok) and U.K. (London and Glasgow).

© Tilley Harris. A selection from the Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) 2010 Mentoring Program, Team London.

Pictured above: A British mother and child make the most of a staycation by pitching a tent in a local field. Harris’s image is part of the exhibition, Answering Adversity, which opens today January 14 at Manhattan’s Calumet Gallery.

During summer 2010, 38 young photographers in 11 cities across North America and in Great Britain participated in this unique mentorship program organized by the Young Photographers Alliance non-profit. This initiative sent teams of emerging photographers and their mentors into the field to capture stories of innovation, determination and courage during hard times in response to the Answering Adversity theme. “Many struggling farm owners who set up campsites on their farms have been extremely surprised by the financial success of their substitute business ventures,” Harris notes in an essay about her images archived on the YPA Web site.  To learn more about YPA and its many initiatives click here. To see more of Harris’s work click here.

© Daniel Kramer. Above: Bob Dylan With Peter Yarrow & John Hammond Jr. Hailing Taxi 1965, NYC.

On October 12th, the Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) hosted their second annual award ceremony and benefit auction at New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion. Six young photography students were presented with cash scholarships by photography icons Barbara Bordnick, Timothy Greenfield Sanders, Ron Haviv, Eric Meola, Doug Menuez and Michel Tcherevkoff. The scholarship awards are one of the programs YPA runs with the aim of nurturing talented young photographers to emerge as tomorrow’s top visual artists and documenters of our world.
Nearly $10,000 was raised on the night of the event, yet many highly collectible prints, including the images featured here, are still available for purchase online. This important fundraiser supports YPA’s mission to inspire, educate and empower the next generation of professional image makers. To view and bid on any of the 140 available prints from industry greats, click here. Bidding will close at 9PM EDT, October 28th, 2010.

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