© Tilley Harris. A selection from the Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) 2010 Mentoring Program, Team London.

Pictured above: A British mother and child make the most of a staycation by pitching a tent in a local field. Harris’s image is part of the exhibition, Answering Adversity, which opens today January 14 at Manhattan’s Calumet Gallery.

During summer 2010, 38 young photographers in 11 cities across North America and in Great Britain participated in this unique mentorship program organized by the Young Photographers Alliance non-profit. This initiative sent teams of emerging photographers and their mentors into the field to capture stories of innovation, determination and courage during hard times in response to the Answering Adversity theme. “Many struggling farm owners who set up campsites on their farms have been extremely surprised by the financial success of their substitute business ventures,” Harris notes in an essay about her images archived on the YPA Web site.  To learn more about YPA and its many initiatives click here. To see more of Harris’s work click here.