These young adults are part of a national program called YouthBuild USA. YouthBuild helps out of school youth to obtain their GED, job training and life skills along with many other career enhancing diplomas and certificates. The chapter I work for in Greensboro, Alabama, serves youth in Hale County. Located in the Black Belt region of Alabama, Hale County is undoubtedly one of the poorest counties in the United States. The bulk of this region’s population is dependent on government assistance, settles for low educational achievement, and survives in a culture where social delinquency is the norm.

These photographs are an experiment in portraiture. Each student was asked to write one word that described his or her self on their Polaroid portrait (Fuji 4×5 instant film). My aim in this was to bring not only their image to their audience, but also open a portal into their selves. I choose to subvert the traditional power dynamic of a portrait, placing the power in the hands of my students to allow them to guide their viewers’ interpretations. Their first impressions are now more in their control, and less dictated by my photographic practice. This experiment in portraiture acknowledges my students choosing self-determination over predestination.