Snap Shot – Teenagers Photographic Prize

3 July – 8 August 2010

Fun, Freaky, festive or feisty, the gallery’s fourth annual photographic prize for photographers under 20. Sponsored by the Friends of Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest.

Snap Shot – Teenagers Photographic Prize began as a Gallery project in 2007. Originating as a community development initiative, this exhibition focuses on providing a teenage audience with an opportunity to engage with the creative and cultural life of a regional gallery. Now in its fourth year, the teenagers’ photographic prize exhibition has steadily grown from a modest display in the Gallery’s studio space to its 2010 placement centre stage in the Main Gallery.

To view Snap Shot featured in Art Nation – Teenage Artists, aired as part of Art Nation Episode 23, Sunday 18 July 5.30pm on ABC1 click here.

Invited to respond to the theme Snap Shot, teenagers were asked to capture fun, freaky, festive or feisty moments from their lives. As a result, Snap Shot displays the original works of 147 teenagers, which were created within the past twelve months.

Growing-up in a hi-tech era, teenagers have been exposed to an unprecedented means of electronic communication and documentation. The photographic image, therefore, was selected as an appropriate art form for teenagers to document, comment upon and communicate about their world. Accordingly, Snap Shot presents teenagers with the prospect of extending their relationship to photography, as a dynamic and vibrant means of social networking, by situating it within a fine arts context.

By participating in Snap Shot, teenagers are given a unique opportunity to express their perspective on life and the end result is a range of photographs that offer an insight into the opinions, observations and attitudes of contemporary youth. Operating within the scope of their life experience, issues of identity and friendship are explored within the familiar environments of home and school along with personal interpretations of the rural and urban landscape.

Snap Shot – Teenagers Photographic Prize provides an important avenue for Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest to continue developing and strengthening its commitment to the community. Consequently, the Gallery is committed to supporting the teenagers’ photographic prize initiative as it continues to evolve from a stellar, yet modest, idea into a substantial contribution to the development of the visual arts amid a youth demographic.