Angels no.69, silver gelatin on baryta paper (2025)
About
J.A. Young (b.1986) is a trans, autistic, experimental mixed media artist and photographer based in the American South.
In 2025, she was selected as the OD Prize Grand Prize Winner, a Fresh Eyes x Hungry Eye Talent Award Winner, and her debut solo monograph was shortlisted for the Les Rencontres d’Arles Author Book Award. That same year, she was also selected as a Lucie Foundation Scholarship Finalist, an InCadaqués Photography Festival Runner-Up, and was Shortlisted / Highly Commended by the Belfast Photo Festival.
Young’s research-based practice draws on a range of influences (e.g., cultural anthropology, world mysticism, and the occult) to critically engage contemporary socio-political and ecological issues. Thematically, Young’s work explores how humanity has abused its own technological innovations to seize control of an entire planet: from the cultivation of fire to the advent of agriculture, all the way to the nuclear era and the age of the internet.
The final output of Young’s process consists of limited edition works on paper. Each piece belongs to an ongoing, ever-evolving body of work that Young divides into distinct phases or series — the first two of which are titled OF FIRE, FAR SHINING (2023-2024) and ANGELS (2024-present).
Group Exhibitions
2025-2026. OD Prize Exhibition, Open Doors Gallery, London, UK & Online.
2025. InCadaqués Festival Edition 9, InCadaqués Photography Festival, Cadaqués, Spain.
2025. Book Awards Exhibition, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France.
2025. Hungry Eye Fair, Fresh Eyes x Hungry Eye, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2025. Disobedient Images, OFF Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France.
2025. I’ve Seen Things You People Wouldn’t Believe, Revela’t Festival, Vila nova i la Geltrú, Spain.
2025. What is the First Image You Remember? Zero Feedback, Tokyo, Japan.
2025. Rational Inattention, Zero Feedback, Tokyo, Japan.
2024-2025. OD Prize Exhibition, Open Doors Gallery, London, UK & Online.
2024. Verzasca Photo Festival, PhMuseum, Sonogno, Switzerland.
2024. Kranj Photo Festival, PhMuseum, Kranj, Slovenia.
2024. PhMuseum Days Photo Festival, PhMuseum, Bologna, Italy.
2024. Fotofestiwal Łódź, PhMuseum, Łódź, Poland.
Solo monograph
2024. Of Fire, Far Shining, Zone (first edition, out of print).
Group Publications
2025. Fresh Eyes x Hungry Eye, GUP Magazine.
2025. Disobedient Images, Snap Collective.
2025. What is the First Image You Remember? Zero Feedback.
2025. Rational Inattention, Zero Feedback.
2024. Gomma Black and White Awards, Gomma.
AWARDS & Grants
2025. Lucie Scholarship Finalist, Lucie Foundation.
2025. OD Prize Grand Prize Winner, Open Doors Gallery.
2025. Runner-Up, InCadaqués Photography Festival.
2025. Talent Award Winner, Fresh Eyes x Hungry Eye.
2025. Author Book Award Shortlist, Les Rencontres d'Arles Book Awards.
2025. Photo Award Shortlist and Highly Commended, Belfast Photo Festival.
2025. Urbanautica Award Special Mention, Urbanautica Institute.
2025. Gomma Grant Finalist, Gomma.
2024. OD Prize Shortlist and Judge's Pick, Open Doors Gallery.
2024. Gomma Black and White Award Shortlist, Gomma.
2024. Photography Grant Shortlist, PhMuseum.
Bibliography & press
2025. Featured Project, Figures Photography.
2025. Featured Project, Yogurt.
2025. Photobook Review, Discarded.
2025. Portfolio Feature, Float.
2024. Featured Project, Nowhere Diary.
2024. Featured Project, Figures Photography.
2024. Featured Project, Journal of Urban Photography.
2024. Featured Project, Phroom.
2024. Spotlight Feature, Arttaca.
2024. Featured Project, PhMuseum.
2024. “Dans l’œil de J.A. Young: l’hydre monstrueuse qui domine les États-Unis”, Fisheye.
2024. “Of Fire, Far Shining: l’effroi, vu par J.A. Young”, Fisheye.
2023. “Mysticism and the Occult: The Work of J.A. Young”, Musée.