Youthful Adventures: Growing Up in Photography

Youthful Adventures: Growing Up in Photography seeks to celebrate and complicate views of childhood as a universal stage in life, but one that varies broadly in experience. The images show a range in age from the emotional minefield and playful discovery of early childhood to the often probing and sometimes awkward search for identity of young adulthood. The exhibition speaks to the diversity of experiences of growing up as children seek to formulate their identities in the multiplicity of societal influences. That breadth of experience is also layered with the advent of time, as images from the 1940s are paired with photographs of the contemporary moment. The passage of time reveals how prevalent photography is in the life of a modern child, whose self-awareness is often born out of and nurtured by images of oneself. This exhibition is grounded in photographs from the permanent collection of Telfair Museums and speaks to the growing collection.

Investment is provided by the City of Savannah, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and Terra Foundation for American Art. Additional support provided by Mrs. Robert O. Levitt.