What it means to be 15 and female, anywhere...
- Text by Ilana PanIch-lInsman
- Photography by Ilana PanIch-lInsman
Adolescence, with all its chemical shifts, is universal. Yet its manifestations differ according to context.
I photographed 15-year-old girls from Brooklyn, New York, because I was curious about this moment when the push and pull of childhood and adulthood can be equally strong.
It’s when a girl begins to define herself as a woman. I became curious about cultural differences in this age group, so I followed the idea from Brooklyn to Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan.
While it may seem like an obvious comparison, I’ve never seen the two sets of photographs juxtaposed as they are before you here.
These images have ceased functioning as interplay between my eye, my subjects and myself; they’ve become a dialogue revealing religious, political, social and cultural differences and similarities between two small corners of female teenage culture.
Each pairing of images has been matched with a song, which you can listen to as a mix on Spotify.
The Slits – Typical Girls
Top: Katie (15) and friends sit in Libby’s bedroom in Park Slope, Brooklyn, an upper-middle-class section of New York City.
Bottom: Manam (20), Manar (23), Fidaa (18), and Khitam (13), four sisters from Wadi Dawasit, Saudi Arabia, sit in their room in Gaza Camp, Jerash, Jordan – home to more than 20,000 Gazan refugees.
Bikini Kill – Rebel Girls
Top: Hannah (15) smokes a cigarette outside a music venue in Manhattan,
New York City.
Bottom: Riham Al-Quesi (16) at her home in Beddowi camp, Tripoli, Lebanon.
Paul Simon – Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Top:Hannah (15) and Libby (15) embrace in front of their former elementary school in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Bottom: A young girl adjusts her hijab outside an elementary school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Nirvana – Bloom
Top: Libby performs a cartwheel in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, where she and her friends often hang out.
Bottom: A teenager waves over a wall at Jerash Camp.
The Smiths – Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
Top: Libby dresses for school. She attends a rigorous high school in Park Slope and plans to go to college.
Bottom: Shahanez (13) was born in Gaza Camp. Her family came from Ramla in Palestine.
Shahanaz loves school and hopes to become a doctor, but will not be able to do so unless her legal status as a refugee changes, thereby affording her the same rights as local citizens.
Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right (To Party)
Top: Hannah smoking at a party with her boyfriend.
Bottom: A girl laughs with friends. Young Muslim women in the camps rarely spend time with boys from outside their own families.
Deftones – Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
Top:Katie (15) rides the subway home from school every day, alone or with friends.
Bottom: Mona Mhmad Al Masri (15) at her home in Burj El-Barajneh camp in the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon.
Against Me! – Pretty Girls (The Mover)
Top: Hannah checks herself in the mirror at a party.
Bottom: Saher Taweh (21), Ruba (20) and Kamar Wakad (18) chat with Wafaa Zeid (17) while they take turns applying makeup to one another during a beauty class held by UNRWA in Beddowi Camp, Tripoli, Lebanon.
Weezer – Smart Girls
Top: Libby studies for her classes while her father prepares dinner in Brooklyn.
Bottom: Girls take notes in class at an UNRWA school in Beddowi Camp, Tripoli, Lebanon.
Find out more about Ilana Panich-Linsman’s Fifteen project or listen to the above mix on Spotify.
This article originally appeared in Huck 33 – The Identity Issue. Subscribe today to make sure you never miss another issue.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
“Music can save you for a day”: Touché Amoré on social media and subcultures
To celebrate a new album and reflect on a decade and a half of being themselves, frontman Jeremy Bolm chats about opening up via lyrics, subcultures in the internet age, and the hardcore re-revival.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Meet the Paratriathlete who cheated death twice
A near fatal training crash ruined British Paralympian George Peasgood’s Paris 2024 plans. As he recovers, his life and outlook are changing – will LA 2028 be part of his future?
Written by: Sheridan Wilbur
A glimpse of life for women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule
‘NO WOMAN’S LAND’ has been awarded the prestigious 14th Carmignac Photojournalism Award and will be exhibited at the Réfectoire des Cordelieres in Paris this autumn.
Written by: Isaac Muk
In Photos: A decade growing up in pre-gentrification Lower East Side
A new photobook provides an up-close-and-personal look at the life of a Puerto Rican family, documenting them growing up as the world changed around them.
Written by: Isaac Muk
This summer taught us everything is... marketing
Months of historic political violence, memes, auras, and, of course, ‘brat’ has newsletter columnist Emma Garland asking if anything is real anymore?
Written by: Emma Garland
Rick Castro’s intimate portraits of love and remembrance
Columbarium Continuum is an ongoing exhibition of photographs displayed inside the two-story art nouveau columbarium of the iconic Hollywood Forever cemetery.
Written by: Miss Rosen