Kodiak High School

Artist Statement: Ecliptic reflections
This photo was taken during the October Solar Eclipse using the screen of a welding helmet to allow visibility of the sun, which also reflected the trees towering behind me. With the creative use of this device, I was able to capture both lunar and solar aspects of the sky, also featuring its relation to planet earth with trees.

Artist Statement: Spellbound
My fascination with the concious manipulation of energy drove me to photograph pyromancy; the manipulation of fire or heat. The photo was taken in the woods where the trees formed a gap, letting a warm ray of light shine down on to my model. To capture the power of manipulation of energies, I placed a staff in one hand to symbolize her control over the natural, physical world and a flame in the other to symbolize her dominion over every. Her piercing skyward gaze was enhanced by brightening up her irises to fully capture the divine knowledge this individual possesses, as well as the bolding of her facial features.

Artist Statement: This photo was taken as part of a photo challenge in which I was to creatively photograph a reflection without using a mirror. I captured the reflection of my hands hovering over the glassy water of Lake Gertrude on a cloudy day. The blue sky and clouds are visibly reflected and my hands cast shadows distorted by the slight ripples in the water.With much experimentation, I decided to add these shapes; the vesica piscis (right) symbolizing feminine energy consisting of curved lines with a flower in the center, the tetrahedron (left) symbolizing masculine energy characterized by defined points and straight lines, and finally Metatron’s cube (center) which represents the energies coming together and forming cosmic universal energy. My intention for this photo was to symbolize the relationship humans have with the universe and these energies and how each individual human embodies both energies to a certain extent.

Artist Statement: Fate’s Path
For my advanced photography class final my teacher challenged us to shoot six photos centralizing around something we needed to improve on, and I chose to do photos that were completely unedited, or “Straight Out of Camera”. I started to plan my photos out, but suddenly realized that was wrong. Sometimes it is the absence of thought and planning that produces the best images because those are the photos that capture life in its most pure and candid form. So I decided to step back and observe as well as experience life around me, waiting for those once in a lifetime moments that need no help to be beautiful. I carried my camera with me everywhere, and was on a walk with my Dad when I captured this photo. We came across a tiny path splashed perfectly with a halo of light, and I knew its natural beauty was a perfect for my theme. I gave careful thought to my focus point, and after many tries, finally managed to get the right depth of field where the middle of the path, bush, and foreground trees were all in focus while the beginning and end of the path were nicely out of focus. I titled it “Fate’s Path” because like my photo, life can often have blurry futures and fading past, but in the present, hopefully, it is bright and clear. I loved that the photo embodied my theme both literally, as well as symbolically, because it reminded me that life is more than just the physical, or more than just emotions. Life is the beautiful mixture of both and I was able to, even briefly, capture that.

Artist Statement: Tinkerbell
Lighting is my favorite part of photography. I love the impact lighting has on a photo’s underlying emotion, and for “Tinkerbell” I was trying to highlight lighting that was the main focus of the photo. I set up a low powered flash with a yellow gel in front of my model so that it was hidden by her body and positioned her in a sassy pose I imagined Tinkerbell in. Then I set up two low powered flashes with blue and green gels in a soft box to create my contrasting background. Separately I took photos of sparkles being thrown to add to the wings and baby powder puffs to blend with the background to make it look foggy. By merging all of these elements together, I was able to create a photo that was intriguing because of the dynamic lighting.

Artist Statement: On Pointe
I took this photo in the effort to capture how the dancer’s I know view their art. Through the use of two flashes, one photo left at a high forty-five and one behind the pointe shoes creating rim lighting, I was able to dynamically light the pointe shoes that gave them a glamorous look. But upon closer inspection the pointe shoes are worn and ragged. In the same way dancing looks beautiful, but underneath it is hard, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.

Artist Statement: “Dreamland”My creativity is fueled by the world around me. My home, Kodiak inspires much of my photography through its mystery and natural beauty. For a long time, I was unable to channel the inspiration surrounding me. It wasn’t until I took beginning photography my junior year, that I was able to bring to life the ideas I had swimming around in my head. For this photo, I wanted a photo to go with a story I was writing about a forest trapped in unbreakable night, so I went out one night to a nearby forest and light painted the trees from an extreme wide angle. As I was taking the photo I realized that not only had my photography become an avenue for my creativity to express itself, but it had began to enhance my other creative endeavors.

Artist Statement: Once Upon A Time
My passion for photography is rooted in my love of storytelling. Whether it is from my imagination, or from the life swirling around me, photography allows me to make a statement about the fragile inner mind of mankind and the loss of imagination. Photography allows me to capture photos that invoke wonder, dreams, and realization unique to each individual who lays eye on it. The purpose of my photography is to create a story filled image that, when found by someone, their imagination is sparked and they experience that child like wonder of life, and possibly that wonder will change into a better understanding of the world, and themselves.This definition of my photography came when I was making “Once Upon A Time”. I created this photo by blending together three images in Photoshop, so that the subjects from each image were unified as well as strengthened by each other. When it was done I was surprised by the mysterious story it told. Every time I look at it I try to discern what exactly that story is, but every time the story is different. I realized I wanted every photo I captured to tell a different story to anyone who discovers it.