‘A new way to express myself’: Harlem teens share their lives through photography – in pictures
For the past 25 years, the Expanding the Walls program has allowed teenagers to express their identities via photography. Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community, organized by Jayson Overby Jr, is on view until 8 June at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City
Mbali Ndolvu, Sibi, 2005.
Photograph: Studio museumCurated by Briana Ellis-Gibbs
Tue 2 Jun 2026 05.00 EDT
Last modified on Fri 5 Jun 2026 16.19 EDT
Zemi Moreno-Billingsley, Can You See Yourself?, 2024
Zemi Moreno-Billingsley was a ninth-grader at Saint Ann’s school in Brooklyn in 2025 when she participated in the program. ‘Ordinary and everyday things make me wonder and drive my curiosity. I’m spontaneous in the way I approach photography and taking my photographs – I wait until the inspiration strikes,’ she writes. ‘Photography is an exciting and intriguing way of producing art because, by freezing the moment in time, you can create a whole story that many people can interpret’Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Kareen J Dillon, Poker Hands, 2006
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Sergio Kadinsky, Mermaid Parade, 2003
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Elanie Vargas, Girlhood, 2025
Elanie Vargas has used the camera since a young age as an outlet for her emotions. ‘I hope to inspire my audience with peaceful images with uplifting undertones,’ she wrote. ‘I enjoy planning shoots, photographing primarily street scenes or nature scenes. Aside from photography, my interests include music and drawing, which intersect with my photographic practice. Album covers inspire my aesthetics, and I often plan out my images through sketching a study’Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Sean Frederick, Watermark, 2017
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Kevin Marshall, As the Silence Sings to Me, 2022
’As a child, I was exposed to numerous creative outlets, all of which encouraged me as a young photographer to explore creative and new ideas,’ Marshall, at the age of 17, wrote. ‘Hearing recollections from my dad about his misfit adventures as a youth, and how my mom would struggle, yet persevere through her own youth, are some things that I want to explore in my work. These narratives are important to me because they are some things I wish I could have seen and experienced’Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Lily Cheng, Generations, 2017
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Nola Nelson, Wall of Hats, 2015
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Joel Angel Sebastian, Another Day, 2021
In 2025, Joel Angel Sebastian, then 16, explained how he hoped people would approach his work. ‘In participating in this program and experimenting with a camera, I have been able to find a new way to express myself,’ he wrote. ‘When I take pictures, I usually don’t have a story to tell because I want the viewer to come up with their own narrative’Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Mbali Ndolvu, Sibi, 2005
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Belen Vanesa Bautista, Behind feelings, 2019
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Janaivi Sosa, Fragments of Reality, 2020
During the 2025 program, Janaivi Sosa, then 12, reflected on his approach to photography. ‘In my time on Earth, I’ve walked hundreds of miles to many destinations, yet not once have I noticed the abundance of beautiful colors of life. The survival aspect of life blinded me. Through photography, I made it my mission to photograph beautiful scenery that people seem to not notice or simply walk past’Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Jessica Delgado, Untitled, 2016
Photograph: Studio museum
Genevieve Pierre, Protecting the Now, 2011
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Isabella de la Cruz, Forever Us, 2024
’When people see my photographs, I want them to reminisce about when they were younger and experience their childhood emotions again, because as people get older, they tend to forget these emotions. I use both black-and-white and color photography, but it truly depends on the subject matter. With my photography, I want to convey feelings of love and a sentiment most people lose or sometimes forget deep down,’ De la Cruz wrote at age 14Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Natasha Bunnag, Reverence, 2004
Photograph: Studio Museum in Harlem; Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community Collection
Jossie Rivera, Look at Me, 2018
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