By Kinga Janik     

The photograph shows a row of broken seats in a high school auditorium, cracked wooden backrests and remnants of corrugated metal side rails. 11th grader Alexis captured the image on black and white film, documenting her Washington DC school through the lens of her 35 millimeter camera. This is just one of a gallery full of photos that tells the story of local students’ disaffection with the DC Public Schools System.

      The opening reception for the exhibition “Through the Lens: A Photography Exhibit by DC Youth” at the ARTiculate Gallery drew a crowd of more than two hundred and fifty to the modestly-sized downtown Washington art gallery. “The photos,” explains Heather Rieman, co-founder of Critical Exposure, the non-profit curating the exhibit, “tell the story of the amazing youth in DC.” The students’ photographs render what day-to-day life is like in a school system with one of the lowest graduation rates in the country—with only 59% of students graduating within four years.

      Every adult eye was turned to the six high school students scheduled to speak at the evening’s reception. With untied Converse sneakers on his feet and his ratty backpack slumped against the photograph lined wall, Moises Miranda was first to take to the floor. His long dark curls falling into his eyes as he leaned over the microphone, he began, “There’s nobody we can call. And when we do call,” his young voice amplified, “nobody answers.”

      Running for ten days, the exhibit featured the work of thirty Washington DC middle- and high-school students like Moises. The students collaborated on their projects with Critical Exposure, which works to empower youth through photography training sessions. Critical Exposure has coordinated displays similar to this all over the country, aiding various student and adult-led organizations with their youth education-related campaigns. This local exhibit includes more than seventy black and white photographs taken by students in the District of Columbia over the past two years.

      The five by seven inch photographs—uniformly matted in white with black frames—were strung on the gallery walls with transparent fishing line. Each had a corresponding caption or poem written by the student photographer to describe what they had captured on film. Visitors also had the option to use their cell phones as an audio guide, dialing the phone number corresponding with the photos to hear recordings of the students’ explanations. One middle school student from Ward 7 uses her caption to describe a portrait of her teacher and mentor, a young heavyset woman who stares out at the viewer from behind the desk of an emptied classroom.

       David Lawrence, called “Big D” by fellow members of the Youth Education Alliance, took the opportunity at the microphone to criticize the shortcomings of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the DC School Board’s plans for the District’s public school system. His student-led group identified a $113 million shortfall in the city’s proposed 2008 school budget. The group claims that the additional funds are needed to remedy the poor physical conditions of DC schools and the lack of access to college counselors. Hanging behind David as he speaks is a photo of mold enveloping the wall above a row of school lockers.

      David argued, “If they can find money for a baseball stadium, then they can find money for our schools.” A brown clipboard laden with copies of the group’s petition to “Fully Fund Our Schools” under his arm, David fielded questions from the throng of adults surrounding him after his brief address during the reception.

      DC public schools have been under scrutiny for reasons in addition to their low graduation rates and the state of disrepair of facilities. The District also has one of the nation’s highest disparities in reading and math achievement levels based on the income level of the student. This is a priority for education activists in the District because of the high percentages of minority and low income students enrolled in the public schools.

      Major steps towards improving DC schools came just days after the opening of the exhibit “Through the Lens.” On March 23rd, the day after the gallery opening, Mayor Fenty announced the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s donation of $122 million to fund college scholarships for DC high school students.

      A little over a week later, on April 4, Mayor Fenty announced the DC City Counsel’s vote in favor of handing over control of the public school system to the mayor. In a statement released by his office, Fenty says, “Today, the DC Council took an important step toward correcting a serious lack of accountability in our school system. I am humbled by the Council’s commitment to reform the District’s troubled school system, on behalf of the students and residents of the District of Columbia.”

      David “Big D” Lawrence—who during the reception had been a vocal critic of the city’s lack of action to improve the public schools system—says simply, “They couldn’t argue with the photos we took.”

      At the end of the evening, the group of student activists and photographers posed for photos with mentors, friends and parents in front of the displays of their photography. The event raised over $8,000 in funds for the continued implementation of Critical Exposure’s photography programs both in DC and around the country. After the exhibit, Critical Exposure co-founder Adam Levner reported that Guide by Cell, the supplier of the audio tour program, recorded the event as producing the second highest call volume for a single night. Guide by Cell also provides services to such highly trafficked institutions as the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Museums and the Museum of Modern Art. Some of the photography featured in “Through the Lens” can be viewed on Critical Exposure’s website, www.criticalexposure.org.