Senior Saviors showcases portraits that celebrate the spirit and legacy of our elders who are giving back to the Lower East Side community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, senior citizens in Baruch Houses, one of the largest New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments in the Lower East Side, have been delivering food to families in need.
High school photographers Chrysten Cornelio and Essence Griffin of the Lower Eastside Girls Club collaborated with Camille Napoleon, the Tenants Association President of Baruch Houses, in documenting this loving team of passionate and caring volunteers.
Artist Bios
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Chrysten Cornelio
Chrysten Cornelio is a Puerto Rican and Dominican photographer. She was born and raised in Harlem and grew up on the Lower East Side. She gained appreciation for photography at the Lower Eastside Girls Club. She began taking photos of her community and neighbors while attending the Girls Club in elementary school. Cornelio loves making photos of street art and murals around New York City. The simple thought of people helping out others in her community and enjoying themselves brings a sense of peace to her and her photography.
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Essence Griffin
Essence Griffin is an African American photographer. She was born and raised in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She was introduced to photography at the Lower Eastside Girls Club when she was in middle school. Griffin enjoys making photos of family, nature, and her community. Photography is not only a picture, it has a story behind it. Photography inspires her because photos and their imagery can put smiles on people’s faces.
Organizations
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Photoville
Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.
In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.
By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.
Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
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PhotoWings
We’re honored to continue our partnership with Photoville for our 7th consecutive year, and to celebrate Photoville’s 12th edition! Each year Photoville provides so many rich, unique, and diverse experiences in and around photography–PhotoWings is thrilled to help enrich this community as Education Partners.
Our mission is to highlight and help facilitate the power of photography to influence the world. We help photography to be better understood, created, utilized, seen, and saved. We are dedicated to utilizing the power of photography to further deep thinking, communication, and action.
The PhotoWings Outreach Program and our extensive media archive have myriad educational applications and possibilities, including projects from partners that cross disciplines, generations, and cultures. We also create toolkits/curricula for replication, adaptation and/or inspiration.
PhotoWings has partnered to document the Photoville Talks for the past five years, to expand the ways the global community can be a part of these important dialogues. Explore the collection of Photoville Talks today!
Be sure to check out all the Photoville Resources that have been supported in partnership with PhotoWings
And for more information about PhotoWings, you can visit http://photowings.org/
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The Lower Eastside Girls Club
The Lower Eastside Girls Club (LESGC) supports young women and gender-expansive youth of color throughout New York City in leveraging their inner power — to shape a better future for themselves, their community, and the world. Through free, year-round, innovative programming, we connect young people with their passions, celebrate their curiosity, and channel their creative energy. Together, we are building a just and equitable future filled with joy, power, and possibility.
Every year, hundreds of youth ages 10–23 visit our facility where we offer after-school, weekend, and summer programming in STEM, arts, digital media, sound, wellness, civic engagement and leadership. Our 35,000 square foot facility includes a maker shop for coding and robotics, an environmental studies lab for STEM exploration, the Alphabet City Art School for visual arts and crafts, the Center for Media and Social Justice for digital media, film, and photography, the sound studio for music production and our radio station/podcast, WGRL (Where Girl Radio Lives), a design studio for fashion and material arts, an expansive and productive rooftop farm, a full culinary education center, and a 64-seat dome planetarium.
Senior Saviors
Featuring: Chrysten Cornelio Essence Griffin
Curated by: Destiny Mata Kelly Adams
Locations
View Location Details Grand Street Settlement Best72 Columbia Street
New York, NY 10002
Location open 24 hours
Recipient of the 2022 Photoville & PhotoWings Educator Exhibition Grant
