This year’s photo urbanism program is exploring the intersection of health equity and public space.

The Photo Urbanism program provides fellowships to photographers to create a body of work about the role of public space in New York City, including the opportunity to lead two youth photography workshops and present one final solo exhibition. In 2022, we awarded the Photo Urbanism Fellowship to Elliott Golden to use photography as a tool for public health and community development alongside the Restorative City projects.

While the project will look at policy and design changes required to confront health inequity, Elliot is using a range of artistic and journalistic photography and videography to capture the human, personal narratives that exist within community wellness. 

For the second time in the program's history, the Photo Urbanism Fellowship expanded its scope to include youth photography fellows. The youth fellowship provides mentorship  and professional development for young people ages 16-24 from the NeOn Photography Network, a community created to provide both professional and creative opportunity in seven New York City neighborhoods.

Meet the 2023 Youth Fellows:

Loulou Bradshaw (she/her) is an Afro-Caribbean American queer creative based in Brooklyn, New York. Her interest in photography started at a young age, but through time and experience, her passion has grown immensely. Her approach to photography is defined by her dynamic and intimate style of portraiture.

Myron Mitchell (he/him) is a New York City based photographer practicing for over three years. His interest in photography sprouted from his love of exploring and creating things. Currently, Myron captures landscapes, urban areas, and occasionally portraits. His style can be described as moody, and sometimes leans toward cinematic imagery.

Bradley Mota (he/him) is an artist, photographer and documentarian. He was born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens where he discovered his passion for photography while traversing the streets of the city in his early teenage years. As an observer of spaces and the ever-changing skyline, he became interested in capturing the stories of the struggles and realities of those living in NYC. Having lived through the pandemic at its epicenter, his current work is a combination of reality and escapism. As time progressed, not only did his art style evolve, but so did the medium through which he documented history and himself. 

Taiwo Oladipupo (he/him) is passionate about photography and it stems from his love for science, picturing abstract things and being able to preserve stories for future generations to look at. He first decided to pursue photography seriously through his experience looking through a microscopic lens.

Our current Photo Urbanism Fellow Elliott Golden created a curriculum for an intensive photography workshop at the Museum of the City of New York. The workshop explored the conceptual and technical components of photography, and it inspired the fellows to think about how they could examine the built environment and public space through their photography.  Elliott used his own project focused on vacant lots as a guide.  "3 Lots" documents the distinct but related histories of the vacancies, their current condition, and the people and organizations advocating for more equitable and restorative land uses. Elliott is exploring these issues through a combination of mixed-media collages and photographs. 

The youth fellows created a body of work during the intensive workshop that required them to come up with a clear concept to tie their images together and to develop their own unique voice and vision as photographers. The workshop focused on developing new technical skills and explored the cyanotype printing methods. Fellows left the workshop with "photo-boxes" that contrasted hostile vacant lots or conditions in East Harlem that they photographed in contrast with imagined alternatives.

After their intensive workshop, the youth worked with Elliott to lead a public workshop on Saturday, March 4th, at the Museum of the City of New York for their peers from across the City. It was a cold but exciting day when youth learned to use basic technical photography skills  and key concepts about health equity to expand their own portfolios.

Their work will be displayed at the Restorative City Convening on May 11th, 2023. Stay tuned for more information about Elliott's final photo exhibition later this year.

Photo Urbanism is made possible by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.