Photographing Adolescence: A Conversation About Meeting Teens (and Ourselves) Where We Are

Julia Chang Photography

I recently did something very outside my comfort zone: I was a guest on a podcast.

Heather Whitten from the Documentary Family Photographers podcast invited me to talk about photographing adolescents—and I almost said no. Speaking publicly, especially about personal experiences, is not my default mode. But Heather made the entire experience super easy. While I vlogged in with my sweatpants and fuzzy socks from Bergen County, she in Maryland, it truly feel like an honest, open conversation with an old friend. She met me where I was—with warmth, patience, and such a grounded presence that I felt safe to show up fully.

Meeting someone where they are. When preparing for the podcast, I realized that is also the foundation of how I photograph teens.

DFP Community The Pod Cast New Episode Out Now Julia Chang-Lomonico Photographing Adolescence

In the episode, Photographing Adolescence, we talk about how homeschooling for the past 4 years has shifted the way I parent and photograph. It taught me to slow down, let go of rigid expectations, and tune into the person in front of me—especially when that person is an adolescent navigating a time of transformation.

We also explored how my approach has been shaped by conversations with my friend and Nyack based therapist, Maskit Ronen, who specializes in working with teens in the Rockland and Bergen County area. We also talked about clinical psychologist Lisa Damour and the seven stage of adolescence and walked through the how I use those adolescent stages to approach photography. Both have helped me better understand how to be present, not prescriptive—how to witness teens in all their complexity, without needing to fix or frame them.

Photographing teens isn’t about forced compliance, posing or perfect smiles. We all know they can smell the inauthenticity from a mile away. It is about trust. It is about seeing them—truly—and meeting them exactly where they are.

DFP Community Podcast: Photographing Adolescence. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts. I hope it meets you where you are, too.