Catalogue > At random

What Else Could This Be is a portrait of a world that exists between childhood and adulthood. This is a view of American youth as seen in the strip malls, the backseats of cars, and the empty parking lots. These youth idly bide their time, waiting to grow up. This film is a meditation on youth, transition, and wanting to connect in the world.

Justin Schmitz is an artist living working in the Midwestern United States. He received a MFA from Yale University in 2013 and a BFA from Columbia College Chicago in 2004. He was awarded the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship by the Yale University School of Art and the Tierney Fellowship for Excellence in Photography by the Tierney Family Foundation. Justin is also the recipient of The City of Chicago Community Artist Assistance Program Grant, The Union Civic and Art League Scholarship, and The Albert P. Wiesman Scholarship. He was a finalist for the Honickman First Book Prize at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies and the Photography Book Now Prize. His work was part of The Museum of Contemporary Photography’s Midwest Photography Project and the Indie Photo Book Library. Schmitz has exhibited around Chicago at C33, The Coat Check Gallery, Gardenfresh, Heaven Gallery, the Evanston Biennial, and Version Festival. His work has been exhibited elsewhere including The Aperture Foundation, Belfast School of Art, and Yale University School of Art. Schmitz is Currently the Photography Fellow at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia.