Beyond the endless scope of the constructed “selfie,” smartphones are often used to generate images of public space and events in the broader world. Recently they have functioned as outward-facing image-making tools to capture the upheaval and turmoil of 2020–21 and to document the human side of the pandemic, the fight for racial justice, and the unfolding of the latest US election, among other news.

INWARD at the International Center of Photography features five emerging artists who use the iPhone as a part of their practice and who have turned the lens onto themselves in order to explore and capture the “unseen” instances of their lives today. They experiment with and explore aspects of their interior lives, inner thoughts, and the intimate interactions and relationships that make up their daily experiences both as artists and as people in this time of unprecedented change.

The exhibition features work by Djeneba Aduayom, Arielle Bobb-Willis, Quil Lemons, Brad Ogbonna, and Isaac West.