Aperture is pleased to announce the opening of Dawoud Bey’s exhibition Class Pictures, coinciding with his critically acclaimed Aperture book of the same title. For the past fifteen years, Dawoud Bey has made striking, large-scale color portraits of high school students across the United States, from a wide economic and social spectrum. Each portrait is accompanied by a brief autobiographical statement from the student. By turns poignant, funny, or harrowing, these revealing words often contradict our assumptions about youth in America. Bey’s unusually respectful and perceptive portraits transcend teenage stereotypes and establish him as one of the best portraitists at work today.