Amplifier and Getty Announce Winners of Teen Photography Open Call

Today, the nonprofit design lab Amplifier and the J. Paul Getty Museum announced the winners of “Reconnecting with ____,” a joint open call for photography from students ages 13-19.

The winning works were chosen for their thoughtful and creative responses, and were picked from a pool of over 1,660 submissions from 49 states across the U.S. and over ten countries globally, including India, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and the U.K.

The prompt was an invitation to consider, inspire, and reflect on social justice issues that matter to teens. It encouraged teens to reflect on their own lives, consider the state of the world, and inspire others through their unique artistic expressions.

“It was moving to see the images created and submitted by young people,” says Elizabeth Escamilla, head of education at the Getty Museum. “The photographs capture a wide range of emotions—from joy, sorry, melancholy, and excitement at reconnecting with friends, families, and oneself during this unique time in our collective history. We are excited to share the images of these young photographers with the public at the Museum and online. Each image invites us to reflect and reconsider how we are reconnecting with what matters to us.”

The panel of judges included artists Chip Thomas, Christian Rincon, Rommy Torrico, Das Frank, Mer Young, Tracie Ching, Jessica Thornton and Alex Albadree; Associate Curator Department of Photographs Amanda Maddox, Head of Education Keishia Gu, Assistant Director for Education and Public Programs Elizabeth Escamilla, Associate Director for Collections Richard Rand and Interpretive Content Specialist Tuyet Bach at the J. Paul Getty Museum; and Amplifier’s Co-Creative Director Aaron Huey and Co-Executive Director Cleo Barnett.

The winning submissions from the open call will be transformed into Amplifier-style artworks by some of Amplifier’s top artists such as Tracie Ching, Alex Albadree, and Mer Young, and shown in a special Getty Museum exhibition, Unshuttered: Reconnecting with ____ opening June 14, 2022.

For this project, Amplifier has put together a multimedia lesson plan consisting of an original video lesson on portraiture by Amplifier’s Founder and Co-Creative Director Aaron Huey, and a three-part lesson plan that guides classrooms through a circle practice for brainstorming, application of knowledge through practice, and finally presenting their submission-ready photographs to peers. Amplifier also released short teaching artist videos from renowned photographers Josué Rivas, Hannah Reyes Morales, and Chip Thomas detailing additional best practices in portraiture, and how they personally would approach this theme.

These tools will be distributed to teachers of the one million students in the Education Amplifier network, which spans every state in the union.

Amplifier’s Executive Director Emily Goulding stated, “We were thrilled to see so many of the classrooms in our network using the lesson plan and engaging in this project! And the submissions have taught us so much about how teens in the U.S. and abroad are experiencing this unique moment in time.”

Highlights of Winning Work

Samantha George

In my portrait, I explored the disconnect between people and the natural world. In the past couple of years or so, many of us have shut out nature from our lives. However, for my portrait, I wanted to show how we are natural creatures who are supposed to spend more time in the natural world.

Isabel Llamas

My mother has always been a symbol of my roots because she represents the bravery of coming to an unknown country at a young age, and this empowers me. She is dressed in traditional Guatemalan clothing and her face is exuding hope for the future. Roots are crawling up the walls as a way of signifying my roots entering my life. Recently, I have been indulging in my roots by learning more about my family.

Caitlyn Tuttle

When taking this self-portrait, my main concept was how I wanted to go into 2022. One aspect of my life that I want to keep in mind within the new year is spirituality. With all the devastating world news and my own personal troubles, actively reaching for positivity has become an important practice every day. By reaching for the moon in this portrait, I am symbolizing success, with a bright future ahead.

Ava Carson

Throughout this pandemic, many have lost sight of their passions. In a time so isolated, so many of us forgot what we love. In this image, I captured Norah Brozio, a teen ballet dancer, reconnecting with her passion of dancing by going on en pointe in a grand archway looking out over the sky. For me, this image captures how we all had to reconnect with our passions in a time of solitude and loneliness.

Brooke Elien

I wanted to encapsulate the beauty and happiness within reconnecting with friends and this moment was just that. By the people in the photo facing inward there is a clear sense of camaraderie and friendship that leaves the viewer in the perspective of the outsider.