After completing her graduate studies with an MFA in painting back in 2010, Czech photographer Marie Tomanova relocated to New York City, where her work has changed dramatically in approach, medium, and theme. Over the years since leaving the Czech Republic, she has worked on various photo and video projects dealing with issues of displacement, identity, inclusivity, gender, sexuality and memory.

Published in 2019 by Paradigm Publishing, Tomanova’s first monograph, “Young American”, is a hopeful portrait of contemporary American youth culture in New York City. Exploring concepts of individuality, identity, and belonging in the American social landscape, “Young American” represents an empowered youth, free from the traditional confines of self-expression. “This is a future free of gender binaries and stale old definitions of beauty,” photographer Ryan McGinley writes in the forward to the book. “In Marie’s world, people can just simply be. I wish all of America’s youth culture looked like Marie’s photos of Downtown, diverse and inclusive.”

See more from “Young American” below!