Learn more about all the youth exhibitions in the Edu Lab Notebook: Peer Exchange in the Park.

Lion’s Tooth Legacy Photo Project, uplifts the stories of seven immigrant and first generation youth photographers. Stories that reflect on the intersections of family, ancestors, joy, race, gender, faith and radical self-love as a way to deconstruct the legacy we choose to carry, heal and part ways from, but also build as future ancestors.

Daniel-José Cyan (he/him): I am an immigrant from Guatemala, a person of color, a queer man of faith and trans experience, and an artist. I hold many identities. Each of these, though only parts of who I am and not the sum, have a large influence on the art I create. I enjoy collaborative work, and this series wouldn’t have been possible without the photography assistance of my friends Miyagi Scott and Apollo Flowerchild. @cyan.djs @apolloflowerchild @miyagivisuals

Fatmata Binta Bah: is a budding storyteller and committed student of life. They relish in the opportunity to broaden people’s understanding of gender and sexuality, healing and wellness, and ourselves as individuals and interconnected beings. Binta Bah aims to combine their intersections as a Black, queer, girl-child interested in history and memory work—which shares and grounds community through an intersectional lens that is reflective of ourselves and heritage.

Shay Lin Gutierrez (they/them): I was born in Spanish Harlem, and raised in the Bronx. I am a nonbinary visual artist, whose primary visual art form is photography. I have been studying photography for six years, but have been pursuing the art form professionally since late 2019. I love to shoot portraits, fashion, and event photography. I usually shoot POC/Black and queer individuals and artists. I joined Lion’s Tooth Project in the summer of 2019, and was given the special opportunity to submit to Photoville for the second time this year. I am still finding myself as a photographer, and my Legacy project reminded me how much I love storytelling. @museumofawfulart

MarTaze T. Gaines – “Taz” (name preferred or they/them): I am Taz. I’m a Black, Queer, Southerner from Baltimore. Maryland is the South. My folx are from Baltimore and southern Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina. By lineage, we are the Yoruba and Fulani people of Nigeria, and the Ewondo people of Cameroon. My creative process is really through feeling. I see a lot of things that spark interest, or that I will revisit, but I move through feelings. @mtgaines

Miyagi Scott (he/him): “Magic still exists to those left with nothing. We too can be something.” Miyagi Superior Scott lives by those very words. He was born in New Jersey, but spent many years of his youth in New York. As a natural-born artist, his work takes whichever form it needs to, depending on the story it is trying to tell. His mission and goal for his visual art has been and always will be to inspire young people—showing them that the ideas in one’s mind can be brought to life with hard work and dedication. He has won New York City graphic design competitions using software only on his smartphone. In having less, it has given him more: more drive, more strength, more of an imagination. He is currently enrolled at New York City College of Technology, majoring in architectural technology and urban studies.

Nathalie Flo (she/they): is an Ayitienne multi-dimensional artist born and raised in the Bronx. They are a merger of senses, moments, and light—seeking to reflect the medicine of presence through words, visuals, and healing work. @flo.glo

Lea Ibragimov (they/she): Ibragimov joined Lion’s Tooth Project as a junior in high school. They are currently a freshman in college, and last year supported Photoville as their Teen Ambassador. Art and photography have been a tool for exploring her personal story and intersecting identities. In high school, they led as pioneer of the youth pride club. They were also a part of the school newsletter, and served as a translator in their community. Her family is from Azerbaijan, and their current Legacy project explores her coming-of-age story in connection to her family ancestry as someone growing up in the U.S.