Dan Younger, professor of art at UMSL, stands along his photo exhibition at the Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie in Beauvais, France. (Photo by Maureen Zegel)

With five grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 17, Dan Younger has become the de facto family photographer, documenting birthdays and play dates over the years.

His mishmash of images became the basis for a collection called “Some Kids,” which was recently featured in Photaumnales 2013, an international photo festival dedicated to documentary photography held in the Galerie Nationale de la Tapisserie in Beauvais, France.

Younger, professor of art at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, was on hand for the opening Sept. 14, which drew a crowd of nearly 500 people. On display were 25 of his images. Of the more than 20 artists, Younger was the only one from the United States.

One of the photos featured in Dan Younger’s exhibit “Some Kids.” (Click the image to enlarge.)

“I met many other photographers from Brazil, Portugal, Sweden and Belgium as well as from France. Since many of them were teachers, I really enjoyed our conversations,” he said. “We shared stories and contact info, and swapped books of our work. I’m hoping the contacts I made will get my work out to other countries, and I’m already planning a show of my Portuguese friends for Gallery FAB sometime in 2015.”

The exhibition will run through Nov. 10.

Younger’s photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally and are in numerous public collections including Museum der Stadt, in Gladbeck Germany, The Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), The Saint Louis Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institute.

Younger’s photographs have also been used in the sets of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” on ABC’s “Here Comes the Newlyweds” and on VH1’s “Scot Baio is 45 – And Still Single.”

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