(un)Seen

young artist residency 2023: Exhibition and Book

First Exposures Young Artist Residency cultivates the next generation of photographers and artists. Spanning over 7 weeks, this residency offers an invaluable opportunity for 6 - 8 experienced artists, ages 16 - 21 years old, to develop a personal photography-based project. This year, with the guidance of Teaching Artist Ashley A. Ross, the residents explore the (Un)Seen, examining the boundaries of visibility and invisibility in their social, political, and personal lives.

Theme:
The residency's theme this year is (Un)Seen is expansive and can be explored through many lenses. Some example:

• Identity, apparent or hidden

• The hidden depths of everyday life

• The experience of feeling seen or unseen

• The unseen impact of climate change

• Activism and making social issues visible

• The unseen world of nature

First Exposures always encourages creativity and artistic exploration, so residents will have the freedom to interpret the theme in your projects however each of you decide. Your projects can be personal, documentary, futurist/surrealist, collage or something else entirely.

Residency Teaching Artist:
This year we are happy to share that the residency will be taught by visual artist, Ashley A. Ross, who recently was selected as an Emerging Artist Program Awardee at the Museum of the African Diaspora. Her personal work explores cultural aspects of black existence, lineage, and traditions.

Ashley A. Ross is a California-based photographer and visual artist based in the San Francisco-Bay Area. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from California College of the Arts, she has been showcased both independently as well as included in group exhibitions. In 2021, she was selected for the SF Camerawork: Forecast and the following year, selected as a 2022 - 2023 Emerging Artist Program Awardee at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. Her personal work explores cultural aspects of black existence, lineage, and traditions. Utilizing allegorical portraiture and personal memorabilia to investigate memories of the black adolescence experience and make connections between understanding how these experiences contribute to and inform our identity. In addition to her fine art practice, her photographic work includes a variety of disciplines: portraiture and editorial/fashion photography, employing digital and analog mediums to execute conceptual ideas.