[Photos] Vernon’s World

A young photographer gains the trust of a teenager living a largely transient lifestyle to document his experience bouncing between friend's houses, bathroom stalls and the local McDonalds.

A Trans-teen’s Story: Respecting the Pronoun

When I was born, the doctor dictated the way I would live the rest of my life simply by proclaiming “It’s a girl” to my excited and tired parents. Those four words would determine which pronouns people addressed me by, and the social standards I would be expected to live up to – until 16 years later when I would come out to friends and some of my family as trans non-binary.

[Photos] Transteens

Christopher Street and the piers in the West Village in New York City still remain a refuge for gay and trans teens, even as their presence becomes more incongruous as the piers have been converted into a gentrified wonderland. On a recent evening, photographer Robert Stolarik visited and documented this safe haven.

[Photos] Capturing Captivity From the Inside

Today on Bokeh, photos taken by youth inmates in New Mexico with the Fresh Eyes Project. Is the system’s failure to help them improve their outcomes evident in the way they document their surroundings?

Mapping [beautiful, ugly, scary, safe and unsafe] in Photos

Beautiful. Ugly. Scary. Safe. Unsafe. Words that describe places you go, or try to avoid. Adjectives to map your neighborhood by—which is just what young people living in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego did recently with the AjA project.

[Photos] Young Seattlelites See Their City in Pixels

There is a pervasive nostalgia across this gorgeous group of photographs created by young Seattleites with Youth In Focus. They harken back to a slower time in the city’s history, before the shiny new skyline. There is an air of searching about them – as if the young artists were seeking out places they visited as children, now torn down to make way for new buildings and industry.

[Photos] I’m Done When I Say I’m Done and I’m Done

Today on Bokeh, JJIE's arts blog of youth culture and justice, photos and and interview with C.I., age 17, in Johnson County Juvenile Detention, Olathe, Kan. who says he hasn't received his medication and will be in detention for 23 more days.

[Photos] We are a Diverse and Colorful Portland

One Portland-based arts organization is working with local youth to create striking portraits of the diverse families who call Portland home. The resulting photographs are intimate and stunning, painting a picture of Portland that is revealing and expressive.

[Photos] They Didn’t Believe Me

"My parents keep on turning me in here. They call the drug dogs. I told them I didn’t have anything at the house but they didn’t believe me. They may be afraid I am poisoning my little brother or sister." This morning on Bokeh, a 17-year-old in Johnson County Juvenile Detention in rural Kansas.