GREENWICH VILLAGE — Two up-and-coming photographers are getting their first Greenwich Village exhibit this month — and they're only 13 years old.
Sophia Wilson, a student at The Dalton School, and Fraya Salzman, a student at the Salk School of Science, are showing their work at Fourth Avenue pizza place Pie by the Pound.
The pair, who were regulars at the eatery, were discovered by worker Leah Brach.
"We found out that one of the girls, Sophia, was a photographer, so we just decided to ask her to show us her work, and her stuff was really beautiful," said Brach, 25, who helped the girls put the show together.
The pair take photographs every single day around the Village, SoHo or TriBeCa, even on days when they can't go out on an adventure — climbing up on Sophia's roof instead to take photos from there.
"My recent goal is to take my camera with me wherever I go," Sophia said.
"You miss so many things," Fraya added.
It's no coincidence the girls are having their first show together.
They do just about everything together in their free time, whether it's softball, basketball or making multi-grain chocolate chip cookies with their "health freak" moms.
"We were best friends when we were 2 and we're still best friends now," Sophia said. "Fraya is my partner in crime."
When the girls chat, they finish each other's sentences as Sophia, who loves portraiture, talks at length about a "life-changing" camera remote she just discovered, and Fraya, who prefers "framing landscape," relays her recent forays into color contrasting.
Together, the two describe their favorite part of editing photos, tweaking the hues and saturation.
And like passionate professional photographers, they can describe in minute detail the photos they missed, down to exactly where in the frame this one extra bright cherry blossom near the softball field would have been.
"I have dreams about photos sometimes," Fraya said, as Sophia nodded vigorously.
After spending every day after school in RadioShack or Best Buy playing with the display cameras, the girls convinced their mothers to buy them DSLRs for their 13th birthdays. After some research and deliberation, they selected the Canon Rebel T3i, despite Sophia's mother insisting they would be better off with more portable point-and-shoot cameras.
"But we wanted professional cameras," Fraya explained. "Because we want to be professional photographers."
Pie by the Pound held an opening for the girls this past weekend and they managed to sell about 15 of their prints, which retailed for $70 and $75. Sophia said she was even approached by a mom who wants to hire her to take photos of her 10-year-old daughter.
Fraya plans on using some of the money she earned for pocket money, but is going to donate some to Mount Sinai Children's Heart Fund, where she has had two open heart surgeries since she was born with a heart defect. Sophia is going to save most of her earnings, she said, probably for more camera supplies.
The girls are hoping this exhibit is just the beginning of their photo career.
"I just want people to know us for our photography," Sophia said. "I want everyone in New York City to know us for our photography."
"We want to make something of our teenage years," Fraya added.
This summer the girls hope to explore abandoned mansions and, in the future, they want to travel the world.
"We really just want to adventure and take photos everywhere, all over," Sophia said. "I want to, like, discover all these different places — with Fraya, of course."
The framed prints will be shown at Pie by the Pound at 124 Fourth Ave. through May 6.
