I began teaching photography to at-risk girls for the Step Up Women's Network in January of 2007.  As my students photographed, they exposed lives riddled withwelfare, gangs, drugs, and broken families.  I knew to expect this, and I had braced myself for it. I declared that these classes would become my personal documentary project. I photographed the students photographing themselves in their communities, photographing each other, and for almost a year I felt frozen. Pointless. While the students were learning to speak about their lives through a visual language, I felt paralyzed. I struggled with how to portray their experiences in the way that I saw them. Despite their surroundings, these girls glowed with a wisdom and optimism that I never would have assumed to discover.  I came to realize that the world knew very little of the strength, intelligence and insight that these girls possessed, and more of the devastation that brought them these qualities. In this work, I am compelled to offer a clearer and more realistic portrait ofthese young women, one that is not consumed by their hardships but radiates their drive to succeed.

I asked the question: how much does the media perpetuate oppression of these girls by inundating us with only skewed images of them?  How many recognize themselves in what the media supplies and decides 'that is my path'? The media is overrun by images of the welfare mother, the pregnant teen, the addict teen, and provides little reflection on those that move past these experiences with determination.  I want to counter the false images the media has created for these 'at risk' girls and supply one that is whole. The impact these stories and images may have on other girls facing the same obstacles is beyond measure. Participants in this projectare unified in lighting the paths of their peers with hope and vision for the future.