First Exposures

First Exposures Welcome to the First Exposures page!

First Exposures leverages the power of mentoring relationships and photography to empower young people to thrive, express themselves creatively, and become leaders in their communities.

05/21/2026

📸 Last week was the final class for our 2025-2026 Academic Year Program, including the final day of programming for our 8 graduating mentees!

🫂 From first-year rookies to four-year veterans, our graduating mentees expressed how transformational their time in our program was for them, the lifelong bonds and memories they’ll have, and what they’re excited to do next.

🎁 If you would like to make a gift to support our mentees, click the link in our bio.

🎓 Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

💫 Starting their journey as mentee+mentor pair this year, Ryoko and Peyton have been inspired by the community created a...
04/30/2026

💫 Starting their journey as mentee+mentor pair this year, Ryoko and Peyton have been inspired by the community created at First Exposures to expand their potential and confidence in freely expressing themselves.

🫂 These two represent the many bonds created here at FX over a shared love of photography, all of which will be on display at Looking Forward, Giving Back 2026!

⭐️ Support First Exposures + Youth Photography + Mentoring Relationships all at LFGB 2026! ⭐️

Thu. May 7 | SOMArts | 6-9pm PST

Tickets: Link in bio and below
firstexposures.org/lfgb

🍃 Binh Danh’s three silver-toned gelatin prints, Untitled (From the Botanical Specimen series), will be auctioned at Loo...
04/28/2026

🍃 Binh Danh’s three silver-toned gelatin prints, Untitled (From the Botanical Specimen series), will be auctioned at Looking Forward Giving Back 2026!

📸 Binh Danh reimagines traditional photographic techniques to explore history, identity, and place. He is also an associate professor of art at San José State University.

🫂 Binh supported First Exposures last year by serving as our LFGB 2025 Guest Speaker, and we’re so grateful to have his support this year through the donation of these three amazing prints.

💰Bid on Binh’s work at this year’s LFGB!

🎟️ Tickets & info: link in bio
or at firstexposures.org/lfgb

🌎 A new mentee paired with a seasoned mentor, Kara and Kristi have spent their inaugural year exploring how each other s...
04/28/2026

🌎 A new mentee paired with a seasoned mentor, Kara and Kristi have spent their inaugural year exploring how each other sees the world through the power of photography.

🫂 The conversations and memories they’ve shared together have been endless, and we’re so excited for where this connection heads next!

⭐️ Support First Exposures + Youth Photography + Mentoring Relationships all at LFGB 2026! ⭐️

SOMArts | Thursday May 7 | 6—9 PM
Link in bio and below
firstexposures.org/lfgb

4️⃣ Four years together at First Exposures have been transformational for Sergio and Lucas, both as photographers and as...
04/26/2026

4️⃣ Four years together at First Exposures have been transformational for Sergio and Lucas, both as photographers and as people.

🧪 Spending their final year together experimenting with a new technique in collaging, these two are excited to display their prints at Looking Forward, Giving Back!

⭐️ Support First Exposures + Youth Photography + Mentoring Relationships all at LFGB 2026! ⭐️

LFGB | 05.07.2026 | SOMArts
firstexposures.org/lfgb
Link in bio

auction

04/25/2026

✌️Looking Forward Giving Back happening in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you.

📸 Come through to SOMArts on Thursday, May 7th to see the incredible photographers of the Bay Area!

🎟️ Tickets: link in bio or firstexposures.org/lfgb.

Here are some more of the artists who will be auctioned at our biggest event of the year!





Barry Umstead



c.gone.campin

🖐️ Corbin and Wilton, going on five years as mentee+mentor pair, will be auctioning some amazing original, alt-process p...
04/24/2026

🖐️ Corbin and Wilton, going on five years as mentee+mentor pair, will be auctioning some amazing original, alt-process pieces.

🪰 From Corbin’s cyanotype moth – taken from an original painting of his – to Wilton’s cyanotype and platinum palladium prints, you’ll find so many stunning prints at our annual photography auction, Looking Forward Giving Back!

⭐️ Support First Exposures + Youth Photography + Mentoring Relationships all at LFGB 2026! ⭐️

Thursday, May 7
SOMArts Cultural Center
firstexposures.org/lfgb
or Link in Bio

🌁 Rachel Phillips’s print, Golden Gate, highlights an example of a distressed pigment print, which is one of many that u...
04/23/2026

🌁 Rachel Phillips’s print, Golden Gate, highlights an example of a distressed pigment print, which is one of many that underwent aberrations and alterations in her series, Fixed. We’ve been lucky to have Rachel’s support this year as an LFGB Host Committee member, and are excited to include her work as part of this year’s auction.

🖼️ See her archival print in person at Looking Forward, Giving Back 2026 at SOMArts on May 7.

🎟️ Tickets here & info: link in bio
firstexposures.org/lfgb

Rachel shares more about this piece: “Fixed” gathers old photographs into a fictional archive whose contents are undergoing unexpected alterations and even disappearances. The core of the work is digitally altered vernacular snapshots in which glitchy aberrations pierce the black and white images.

👥 First-year mentee+mentor pair, Daniel and Michael, breathe life, color, and perspective into every photo they take.🧘‍♂...
04/22/2026

👥 First-year mentee+mentor pair, Daniel and Michael, breathe life, color, and perspective into every photo they take.

🧘‍♂️ In this fast and sometimes stressful world, both of them enjoy photography as a way to unwind and appreciate the stillness of what’s around them.

⭐️ Support First Exposures + Youth Photography + Mentoring Relationships all at LFGB 2026! ⭐️

LFGB | 05.07.2026 | SOMArts
firstexposures.org/lfgb
Link in bio

💞 We need volunteers for Looking Forward, Giving Back, our annual art auction, and the biggest event of the year! It’s a...
04/21/2026

💞 We need volunteers for Looking Forward, Giving Back, our annual art auction, and the biggest event of the year! It’s a celebration with food and drinks, a photo booth, music, and of course, a gallery of artwork made by our mentees, mentors, and community of artists.

⭐️ This event is super important to FX since it’s the event that helps to fund our free youth photography programming all year long. And to make this event a success, we need your help!

📋 There are many volunteer roles available on the day of the event, from registration to silent auction support to print packing and more. There will also be a mandatory volunteer training (hybrid) on Thu. Apr 30 from 6-8pm.

🆓 Finally, all volunteers will receive a FREE COMPLIMENTARY TICKET to the main event.

🔗 Register at the volunteer link in bio

Photographs by .rikki.ward at LFGB 2025

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265 Shotwell Street
San Francisco, CA
94110

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