Senior Austin Cohen had long been aware of the national prestige and rich tradition of the Miami-based YoungArts program.   

Putting his best work up against his artistic peers felt like a good way to end his high school photography career, he said.  

 The result has been more honors for Cohen and his photography. His portfolio was recently selected as a “winner with distinction” in the competition.  

 “I think [the competition] is really something that is not replicated in any other high school organization in the world,” said Cohen. “Just the amount of talent that they bring together in one group, that one area. I really wanted to be a part of that.” 

 Beginning Photography Journey 

 After starting his photography career at the St. Mark’s School of Texas in eighth grade, Cohen began seriously pursuing the art form as he entered high school.  

 “I had previously done band, but my teacher passed away, and I wanted to switch fFine aArts,” said Cohen. “I’d always been interested in photography, and I had always known that [St. Mark’s] had a very good program.”  

 In his junior year, Cohen moved to Greenhill and continued his photography journey with Middle School and Upper and Middle School Photography teacher Frank Lopez.   

 Lopez says he wanted to put Cohen in Photography 2 when he first came to Greenhill. However, the class had no room, so Cohen was placed in the Photography 1 class.   

 “Austin was clearly advanced, and I created a special program for him, so he worked at a more advanced level, and I challenged him with individual projects and assignments,” said Lopez.   

 Cohen says that the teaching methods were very different at St. Mark’s compared to Greenhill. 

“St. Mark’s is more conservative, they have very well-established principles that underlie how they teach their program – it’s very good at introducing you to the program and setting that very firm foundation,” said Cohen. “Beyond that, from the conceptual side, I think that is where Greenhill’s photo program helped me. We have access to a dark room and different styles of thinking.”  

 Both Lopez and Cohen express similar sentiments of Cohen’s development as a photographer and his creative experimentation.   

 “It’s always wonderful seeing students develop and grow as their own visual artist and the vision that they create,” said Lopez. “I appreciate [Austin’s] humility. I appreciate his ability to let go of a previous point of view as far as photography goes, and to become very malleable to what I had to bring to the table.”  

 Cohen adds that after solidifying technical aspects of his craft, he was able to work with alternative methods of photography such as different angles and orientations.   

 “I did environmental portraits, studio portraits, landscape photography, and I just experimented a lot,” said Cohen. “I think at some point I found this artistic voice.”  

  Portfolio Development 

 In developing his artist statement and portfolio for the YoungArts competition, Cohen took inspiration from two St. Mark’s friends who were finalists in the program last year. Eventually, he decided to center his art on his brother, Jacob Cohen. 

 “They gave me ideas of what they did and what other winners did, so I wrote down a list of ideas that I thought that I could just work on,” said Austin Cohen. “I thought that the one that I felt the most comfortable doing, and the one that I felt had the most value was a portfolio of my brother.” 

 Austin says that when he was trying to come up with ideas, his mom had given him a folder filled with information, journal entries and documentation that she had compiled when his brother was struggling with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that leads to inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include abdominal pain, weight loss and diarrhea. 

 “I wrote my artist statement around what I saw in that, and about the journey he went through, what he had to experience, how it allowed him to become a stronger person, and just how I think his story reflects what many other people with Crohn’s and other incurable diseases have to go through,” said Austin.  

 Jacob was diagnosed with Crohn’s going into his ninth-grade year. Unsure of what was happening, he ignored it at first. However, when the symptoms began to get worse, Jacob went to the doctor. 

 “After a couple of times going to the doctor, they kept on giving me fiber medicine and stuff like that, and it just didn’t work,” said Jacob. “So, then we eventually went to a gastroenterologist, and I had to do a colonoscopy.” 

 Throughout his journey with Crohn’s, Jacob says his brother has been there to support him. 

 “I didn’t really go out of my way to tell them how I felt, but whenever he had the chance, he always supported me,” said Jacob.  

 In his portfolio, Austin Cohen used photos of his brother’s medical reports, medicine cabinets, a weight scale and actual photos of Jacob early in his diagnosis.  

 “I thought he did a good job of showing the progression from the very beginning,” said Jacob.  

High Honors 

Austin Cohen’s portfolio was selectedselection as a “winner with distinction” in the YoungArts competition , earneding him a spot to participate in the YoungArts week in Miami and a cash award of up to $10,000. Additionally, he was the only photographer in a field with about 1,500 submissions to earn a perfect score on the judging rubric. 

 “I could have easily just submitted a portfolio that I made in Norway, or something pretty, but they have 1,000 other submissions that probably look like that,” he said. “So, just try to be different and go the extra mile.” 

 In Miami, Cohen was surrounded by numerous winning artists across multiple disciplines. They spent a week learning from professionals in intensive classes, showcasing their talents through exhibitions and traveling around Miami to practice their art.  

 “Just being able to be surrounded by 160 of the top students [in the United States] was an experience that you don’t really get anywhere else,” said Cohen.  

 Cohen also learned and expanded his photography skills through a portfolio reviewing process where professionals and peers chimed in with their critiques and suggestions.  

 “I was able to get their insight and then contribute what I thought about their work,” said Cohen. “So being able to work with these people that are very art-oriented was a good experience.”  

 Cohen also says that he developed lasting connections with top youth artists from around the country. 

 “Having the opportunity to be a part of [YoungArts] and knowing that you’re going to be part of that group for the rest of your life is a pretty cool thing,” said Cohen. “I’m still in touch with several of the other people that I was there with.” 

 Cohen views the YoungArts competition as the perfect conclusion to this phase of his photography journey.  

 “I felt that this is just one way to kind of cap my photography career in high school, and I think by being there, it allowed me to look forward into what I’m going to do in the future,” said Cohen.  

 Additionally, Cohen’s portfolio has recently won him a Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards Gold Key in the Region-at-Large South. This advances him to compete at the national level and a chance to win up to $12,500 in scholarship money. 

 As he looks ahead to college, Cohen says he has chosen to double major in business Economics and Finance at New York University in the Stern School of Business. where he was awarded a full ride scholarship through his various photography scholarships. However, Hhe says hestill hopes to take some undergraduate classes in the photography program this fall.  

 The scholarships he has earned for his photography will be paying for his college education, a further reward for the passion he hopes to continue. 

 “You can take a camera with you everywhere, and there’s always something to capture,” said Cohen. “It teaches you a different way of thinking about the world.”