Twenty young photographers have spent the summer snapping photos of national parks around the area. Starting Saturday, their work will be on display at the White House Visitor Center.
The photos in the exhibit “Experience National Parks Through the Lens of Youth” are the product of an annual summer program hosted by President’s Park, in which the high schoolers learned about photography and photo editing from professionals. And they were encouraged to develop their own style and perspective as they visited such national parks as Frederick Douglass National Historic Site and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
They also spent some time snapping at the Mexican Cultural Institute and the U Street National Historic District.
“I had to work hard to portray the historical background behind each national park in my work,” one student photographer, Gabrielle Cordero, said in a National Park Service statement. “I made note of the key points of the location’s history or culture and found subjects that demonstrated those emotions in my photos.”
Park service employees and volunteers are judging the work on such fundamentals as composition and lighting, as well as the ability to “capture the NPS mission.”
The judges’ favorite photos will be singled out when the exhibit opens, and the young photographers will be on hand to discuss their work from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. The exhibit will run through Sept. 13 at the center, at 1450 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The hours there are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays.
The exhibit has also been posted digitally on the park service website. A few are in the slideshow below.
