Photographer Alex Hodor-Lee spent his summer documenting youth culture across New York City, sharing an excerpt of his ongoing series with i-D. From prom season to everyday encounters, his lens captures the delicate threshold between youth and adulthood — innocence and experience — revealing that Gen Z, often labeled the “anxious generation,” is in fact doing just fine.

Immersed in the world he documents, Alex cast, photographed, and reported on friend groups across the city — from Lower East Side creatives and theater kids to skaters, bandmates, and those still discovering who they are. His journey began with New York’s prom season — a months-long ritual that unfolds nightly from April through June — where he found that for this generation, the spectacle isn’t the point. They’ve already seen it all.