Vanishingly few photographers on this list, who range in age from 24 to 35, remember life before smartphones. But their exposure to an endless stream of visual media has only strengthened their ability to discern what makes a photograph work. To select this year’s class of Young Photographers, CULTURED asked top names in the photography world to nominate one rising talent and come up with questions they’d like them to answer. In the pages that follow, we introduce 12 emerging image-makers through their reflections, photography, and self-portraiture.
For generations, photographers were motivated by the desire to capture dispatches from a faraway land. But these Young Photographers revel in staying closer to home. Whether they are working in a traditional darkroom style or experimenting with the latest A.I. tools, they plumb their personal histories for inspiration. Their work serves a dual purpose: offering a window into their lives for audiences around the world—and a mirror in which their communities can see themselves.
Adali Schell, 24, Los Angeles
Ashley McLean, 29, New York
Camille Farrah Lenain, 35, New Orleans, New York
Charlie Denis, 31, Los Angeles
Chris Cook, 33, New York
Hannah Altman, 30, Boston
Hero Bean Stevenson, 29, New York
Iva Sidash, 30, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Jak Bannon, 26, Paris
Jasmine Clarke, 29, New Haven, Connecticut
Michael Wolever, 28, New York
Sara Messinger, 26, New York
in your life?
