Student artists show photographs

By Ella Yadegar

The Visual Arts Department hosted a photography exhibit featuring selected works by Photography I and II students in Feldman Horn Gallery on May 12. Students invited family and friends to view projects they had worked on throughout the school year.

Photography I student Savannah Mahoney '25 said the event provided a space for students to come together.

“It was honestly just such a fun environment of photographers, singers, dancers, poets and more, and I just really enjoyed everyone showcasing their art and being able to be proud of my and my friends’ work," Mahoney said.

Mahoney said she appreciated the opportunity to show her work to the rest of the school community.

“It was a really cool experience to showcase what I have worked on and am proud of this year,” Mahoney said. “I’m so happy I got to show my friends and family my work and the work of others that I was super excited about.”

Photography II student Sabine Kang ’24 said she enjoyed hearing her friends' perspectives on her projects.

“I didn’t think I would care too much about the gallery, but I went with my friends, and it ended up being really nice because some of my photos featured them, and it was fun to see their reactions,” Kang said.

Kang said she enjoyed the event because she was able to spend time with her friends and view other students’ work.

“In general I didn't really expect to be super drawn to any work but I was surprised by how much dedication everyone seemed to put in because it's hard to put a lot of effort in since everyone is so busy,” Kang said. “I went with my friends and I really enjoyed the event overall.”

Although Leila Kvistad ’24 did not have work displayed, she said she saw various photography techniques reflected in the exhibit.

“I went to the photography event because my friends were in the event, and I wanted to go appreciate their work and show support,” Kvistad said. “I liked the creativity of the artists like the colorful collages, the use of Polaroids and the collective portraits. They all had a deep takeaway, and it’s very admirable that this all came from a student’s mind.”

Photography II student Clarissa Brown ’24 said her favorite piece was one she did for her "Portrait of a Community" project.

"The work that I was most proud of was probably my piece from our “Portrait of a Community” project," Brown said. "With this assignment, we were first tasked with thinking about which communities we were apart of, then choosing one to represent in a series of photographs."

Brown said her decision of which community to focus on was caused by her observation of a lack of representation of her own identity.

"I chose to represent the Wasian community because I haven’t seen many depictions of us before," Brown said. "I essentially went around campus and took portraits of different Wasian students in the HW community, then combined all of the images into a collage. My goal with the piece was to highlight how even though Wasians are all grouped together by a defining trait — that is, being half Asian and half white — there is still so much diversity within the community."