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InspirationPhotography

The After School Project examines Brooklyn's teenagers with no parents around

The After School Project is an Instagram-based series by Brooklyn photojournalist Cassandra Giraldo, inspired by her personal obsession with capturing moments of adolescence in New York City.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist

"Almost three years ago while studying at the ICP, I documented two thirteen-year-old girls (April & Desire) during their last year in junior high in Brooklyn, NY," she explained. "Every week I would go meet the girls after school and follow them around as they loitered in parks, flirted with their latest crushes and meandered to the mall before their moms called them home for curfew.

"Two years later, between hustling from assignment to assignment, I still find myself drawn to these after school kids and their magic hours of freedom. In these fleeting hours after school, teens are no longer in the gaze of their teachers or parents and are unabashedly themselves pretending to be grownups."

You can find out more about Cassandra at www.cassandragiraldo.com and follow the ongoing series on Instagram @afterschoolproject.

Two teenage girls smile at each other against a brick wall, one wearing a white top and the other a patterned blue shirt
A teenager in a black cap and graphic t-shirt carries a smiling younger child on his shoulders while walking across a New York street with yellow taxis and traffic visible behind them
A teenager in a red long-sleeved top and blue jeans stands beneath bright street lighting in an urban alleyway at night, looking upward with an expressive gesture
Three teenagers stand together outside a 7-Eleven store, with the boy in the centre wearing a pink gingham shirt and touching his chin thoughtfully
Two teenagers stand outside a McDonald's restaurant, smiling at the camera during an after-school moment in Brooklyn
Two teenagers embrace indoors, one wearing a blue shirt looking away while the other in a burgundy shirt gazes toward the camera in a tender moment
Two teenagers face each other intimately in front of a McDonald's sign in a Brooklyn setting, captured in warm golden light
A teenage girl in a grey hoodie smiles while speaking on a mobile phone, surrounded by other young people in an indoor setting
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