This paper presents a study conducted to document adolescents' visual perceptions of school. Specifically, an attempt was made to determine whether black and white adolescents, when given cameras, an entire school day, and complete freedom from class assignments, would select different physical and social aspects of their school environment to photograph, and if so, whether these differences were governed by classroom social role or race. Participants consisted of 82 middle level grade students from two different Florida communities, 41 of whom were identified as class clowns. Results show that: (1) no significant differences occurred between the photographs taken by clown and nonclowns, but many occurred between those of white and black adolescents; (2) the private world of the adolescent is defined by race; (3) black students were more responsive to the people in their environment than were white students; (4) there was a difference in the perception of females by black and white males; and (5) photographs by white students tended to reflect criticism of their surroundings more than those by blacks. The study concludes that many black students have successfully learned how to occupy social roles within the classroom, although their perceptions of school differ from those of whites. Appended to the report are statistical data. (AOS)