Some of them are wearing sweat suits. Many aren't smiling.

These are not typical high-school yearbook portraits.

In "Class Pictures," photographer Dawoud Bey captures American teens as they are -- what they wear to school, how they feel that day, how they view themselves. The exhibit of 40 photos opens to the public today at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and continues through Nov. 23.

"What sets Bey's work apart and what is remarkable about this exhibit is the intense relationship he develops with his subjects in such a brief time," said Sarah Urist Green, IMA assistant curator of contemporary art. Bey spends about 45 minutes with each boy and girl.

"He aims to communicate for the students and give them a voice. Teens aren't always represented in art museums. This give people a chance to be contemplative and spend time thinking about each individual," said Green.

Each teen provided a personal statement to accompany the portraits, revealing something that viewers may not realize by looking at the photos.

For example, "Omar" writes: "I know that I shouldn't, but sometimes I wonder how other people look at me. What do they see first? My brown-ness, my beard, my cap, my clothes, the color of my eyes, the design of my T-shirt? I think people see my skin color first. They probably see me as a brown guy. Then, they might see my black beard and my white kufi (prayer cap) and figure out I am Muslim.

"They see my most earthly qualities first. Brown, that's the very color of the earth, the mud from which God created us. Sometimes I wonder what color my soul is. I hope that it's the color of heaven."

Young people have been the focus of Bey's work for the past 15 years. In 1974, at age 21, he began taking pictures on the streets of Harlem. In 1992, Bey was invited to be an artist in residence at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He spent eight weeks photographing and getting to know teens from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

He continued to visit high schools across the country, capturing rich and varied portraits. His works have been featured in exhibits at the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston; the Milwaukee Museum of Art; and Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, N.C. Bey is a professor of photography at Columbia College in Chicago.

- By T.J. Banes / The Indianapolis Star

Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey

Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art, McCormack Forefront Galleries, 4000 Michigan Road.

When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays. Exhibit continues through Nov. 23.

Admission: Free

Information: (317) 923-1331 or www.imamuseum.org