On International Women's Day Photo Exhibit Benefits Man Up Campaign She is a pillar of strength. Her eyes tell the story of grace and humanity. She will always endure and transcend whatever obstacles life brings her. The photographer Gillian Laub describes Oxana, a striking woman she photographed perched atop a wheelchair on a Tel Aviv beach last July (Slide 8). The image and statement are part of a exhibition and auction benefiting the Man Up Campaign, opening Thursday night at 25CPW in Manhattan with a nod to International Women's Day. Man Up - which aims to motivate youth to prevent violence against women - partnered with Nuru Project to present "Through Our Lens," curated by Whitney Johnson, Bess Greenberg and Yukiko Yamagata. As part of the curatorial team, JB Reed, the co-founder of Nuru Project, is providing open-editioned prints to support Man Up. Jimmie Briggs founded Man Up about four years ago, burnt out after a career in journalism writing about themes like child soldiers and rape. "At a certain point I just hit the wall as a journalist," he said. I couldn't continue exploring these issues, but I wanted to do something more. That was the first of two motivators for Mr. Briggs, 42, who originally is from St. Louis. He was also watching his own daughter, now 10, grow up. He started working with youth, hoping to provide a creative space and foster a passion for social justice. "A lot of groups are focused on women, as they should be, and increasingly there are a number of community groups that work on engaging boys," he said. But he had noticed a lack of youth engagement around violence - and particularly prevention. Given the show's emphasis on broad concepts of empowerment and equality, Mr. Briggs expected a wide range of images. What he did not want to see were photos of blood, weapons, conflict and death. "I did not want to present women as victims," he said, "because we see that every single day. I wanted this show to be affirming. The curatorial team approached photographers, sometimes requesting specific projects or images, and in many cases asking for submissions. They sought to find people who could not only embody the notion of empowerment in a single image, but who have continually expressed it in their work. Ms. Johnson, the director of photography at The New Yorker, said it was surprising at first to see the strength in some of the submissions. "I think there's so much photography that shows the opposite of empowerment - the issues that people might need to be empowered to address," she said. Though she said the curators had once considered approaching only female photographers, that approach was too narrow. Ultimately, the exhibit captures themes from community to fatherhood, highlighting how the strength that comes from relationships empowers people - of either sex. "It was eye-opening to see how different photographers approach the issues, what empowerment meant to them," Ms. Johnson said. The exhibition includes an image by Wayne Lawrence, who has been featured on Lens for his photos of Orchard Beach in the Bronx. He said the photo (Slide 15) represents "the strength and balance that is so important in shaping the young lives that we as parents are responsible for. Too often we hear the stories of the absence of fathers within our communities, and as an artist, I feel an obligation to preserve the images of the Kings who have chosen to be present. Some have a less optimistic view - at first glance. Marcus Bleasedale's photograph depicts a young, H.I.V.-positive woman with tuberculosis, shielded by a green net (Slide 3). "On the other hand," Ms. Johnson said, "his point was this woman, through a lot of care, has gotten herself to a place where she can look forward to being healthy and living a longer life." Mr. Bleasedale put it simply: "The future, she says, is in her control again." "Though Our Lens" is open to the public from March 9 to 11 at 25CPW Gallery. Visit the Web sites for Man Up Campaign and Nuru Project for more information about both organizations.