Helping young people question what they see and tell their own stories.
Youth Lens Initiative is a youth photography, visual literacy, and storytelling platform for middle school and teen students. We pair a four-session workshop with a growing global archive — so the work doesn't end at the classroom door.
A visual world authored by machines and strangers.
Young people consume thousands of images every week. AI-generated content, manipulated feeds, and underrepresentation of working-class and immigrant communities are reshaping what they believe is real and what they think their lives are worth.
We give them a camera, a question, and a global stage. The workshop is the engine. The archive is the product. The students are the authors.
Teach students how to read and question images before they share them.
Equip students to author their own narratives in their own voice.
Aggregate youth perspectives across cities, schools, and countries.
Center families, neighborhoods, and the people students love.
The workshop is the engine. The archive is the product.
- 01Workshop
Four free sessions teach young people to see, document, and share — run with schools, libraries, and community partners.
- 02Monthly challenges
A new themed prompt every month keeps everyone shooting, wherever they live.
- 03Real review
A person reads every submission and gives every storyteller a decision.
- 04Exhibition & archive
Selected work is shown publicly and archived permanently with the artist's name.