5 Teens To Know
Frances Weger
For International Women's Day we are spotlighting young women of tomorrow. Not only are their talents inspiring their generation, the generation before them, but motivating the girls that come after them.
FRANCES WEGER, 16 / PHOTOGRAPHER
Utilizing self portraits and natural light, Frances Weger captures the intimate and carefree youth culture in photographs that resemble an open diary of a teenage adventures and adolescent exploration. She seemingly always has to have a camera in hand to capture a friend’s natural state- whether it’s mid-laughter or hanging out on the roof of a car. The level of intimacy reached in one of the photos of herself in the bathtub, or one of her friends on a sun-filled day is remarkable; it’s like looking into someone else’s raw, unfiltered life. Weger has a photo series featuring periods as well, sending her audience a message that says to stop viewing periods as an alien occurrence, and more of something just as normal to photograph and post on Instagram. 📱 @francesweger
CHLOE KIM, 17 / OLYMPIC MEDALIST SNOWBOARDER
At age four, Kim was just trying out new things just like any other toddler. But while others picked up a crayon and put it right back down when they got bored, Kim picked up a snowboard and ran with it. Currently seventeen, she travelled all the way to Switzerland to train professionally when she was eight, and exposed herself to the public eye during the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics where she received the highest snowboarding score and took home a gold medal. Kim also received the exceptional honor of being the flagbearer for the U.S that year. This year, Kim participated in the Winter Olympics and won gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe event. Her devotion to her craft since age four is an astonishing example of where an intense passion can take you. 📱 @chloekimsnow
photo credit: Interview Magazine
MILLIE BOBBY BROWN, 14 / ACTRESS
The tranger Thing star is known on the show as Eleven- a mysterious, slightly awkward character with some badass super powers. Outside of tranger Thing, she manifests everything that Eleven personifies into a hilarious, charming young actress who is just getting started in the industry. Brown has modeled for Calvin Klein and is currently signed to IMG models, starting up her multi-faceted career. 📱 @milliebobbybrown
GRACE VANDERWAAL, 14 / SINGER + MUSICIAN
Grace Vanderwaal is a young musician, but her songwriting style raises questions about modern day society from the perspective of a younger person better than many other established mainstream musicians. Vanderwaal stepped on the stage of America’s Got Talent in 2016 and instantly gained a large following, eventually winning the season with her raspy voice and ukulele-based pop songs. She even received remarks from Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, who compared her work to Vanderwaal’s. Vanderwaal is scheduled to go on tour with Imagine Dragons this coming summer. 📱 @gracevanderwaal
YARA SHAHIDI, 18 / ACTRESS
Yara Shahidi is an actress and model, encompassing activism both on and off camera. Shahidi made her mainstream acting debut by starring in television show lack-is, a show that addresses many relevant topics to today’s society including racism, the LGBTQ+ community, police brutality, and Donald Trump’s presidency. Shahidi refers to Black-ish as the “renaissance of TV” by portraying activism through art. Her modeling career took off when she was four years old, modelling for campaigns like GapKids and Guess Kids. She recently signed to Women Management New York in hopes of gaining more portrayal of people of color in the media. Shahidi currently attends Harvard University while continuing to act on Black-ish.
