Teens in Rehab Subject of New Venice Photography Exhibit

From a press release:

Crossing Boundaries: Stories of Strength and Survival is the result of a five-month long project by four members of the Young Photographers Alliance: Shane King, Marke Liimatainen, Taylor Martin and Erica Meza.

They were mentored by professional photographers Laura Doss and Barry Schwartz.

During the summer of 2014, these photographers worked with young women at a rehab center run by The Teen Project. The young women there had faced a range of challenges, from gang violence to drug addiction and domestic abuse.

Each photographer approached the project with the theme of “boundaries” in mind. Boundaries can be constructive - setting limits on behavior, resisting the negatives influences from others - or they can be destructive, driving people into emotional and physical isolation. Through this project, the artists hope to inform viewers about the problems faced by others, and to highlight the important work done by The Teen Project to help people improve their lives.

Shane King is from Los Angeles and graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Studio Arts. His project in Crossing Boundaries is a set of portraits of two young women who were members of rival gangs. While in rehab and free from the confines of their gangs, they became close friends, and are now putting limits on their pasts to make room for their futures.

Marke Liimatainen is from Tervo, Finland and a graduate of Santa Monica College. Her project is a visual narrative of the past of each of her subjects, revisiting a painful time in their lives when they felt they were without personal boundaries against abusive relationships and drug addiction, and drawn in to crime for easy money.

Taylor Martin is from Northern California and graduated from UCLA. Her project depicts the how her subjects see themselves and how others see them, conveying the self-perceptions of her subjects and the feeling of isolation.

Erica Meza is from Los Angeles and is currently studying photography at Santa Monica College. Her project combines multiple exposure photography and interviews in her subjects’ own handwriting to open their most personal stories, pains, and dreams. In this way, she
strives to show their personalities creatively, while letting the viewer avoid judgments based on physical appearances.

The opening reception is on from 6-10 p.m. to Saturday, Oct. 25, at the WNDO Space, located at 361 Vernon Ave., Venice. The show can also be seen there from m 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.

Crossing Boundaries is presented by the Young Photographers Alliance (www.youngphotographersalliance.org ), with generous support from The Teen Project (www.theteenproject.com), the WNDO space (www.wndospace.com), Digital Fusion (www.digitalfusion.net) and Jarritos (www.jarritos.com).

Prints will be available for donation by order, and information for donating to the Teen Project will be provided at the show.

For more information, contact Shane at shane@shanefking.com.

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