My Image is of a Seagull on the beach looking at its reflection, but turned sideways it looks like a heart. My image can be perceived by people differently. I like to make my viewers think and wonder about my work, and let them decide what my picture resembles to them. My friend thought it was just a seagull on the beach, but another said it looked like a heart and it reminded them of their grandpa who is scared of seagulls. To me I see a really pretty heart made of a seagull and its reflection. But when I see this photo it also reminds me of when I took it. I was on the beach with my family and friends. I had brought my camera but the sky was really dark and cloudy so I was disappointed I didn't get any cool photos. We were packing up and I was tying my shoes while they started walking towards the exit of the beach, so stopped tying my shoes and started running towards them but then my shoes got sand in them, and the chair on my back fell to my side, so I yelled at my mom to wait for me and she yelled back we'll be by the car. And so I sat down to tie my shoe and when I looked up, there was this weird seagull just looking at itself in the water so I pulled out my camera and started photographing it.

This photo was one of my first self portraits. Originally assigned to me at school, self portraiture was not something I was initially drawn to. Though a bit apprehensive at first, I tried to have fun with it and decided to use it as an opportunity to experiment more with lighting. Cramped into the corner of my room, I made this set up using my tripod, an LED light, a sock, a clothing hanger, and an extra birthday candle. I really wanted the photo to be interesting and have more than just a gradient of colors, so while the lighting is the most striking part of the photo, I decided to express bits of myself through the subtle choices in clothing and accessories.

This piece was inspired by uplifting energy, I wanted to create a big difference in contrast between the colors I chose.

It's my most innovative artwork so far.

This image investigates mark and color as well as celebrates the natural world.

Accepting the idea that you do not have to be exceptional to be valued, and that your worth is not based on your excellence, you don’t have to be perfect, and just being average is not a bad thing.

This piece is a reflection of self doubt. It's demonstrating how your own thoughts can be the most detrimental, and the feeling of being surrounded by your own mind. I took this picture in my schools theater as it's the darkest place in my school. I had my friend pose as the model because I felt she could create what I pictured.

This piece is about how beaches are becoming private property and limiting individuals to enjoy the beach.

I am Areyto P.A., and in 2022, I captured my photograph titled "Diaphanous" using a Pentax K1000 with Portra 400 film. The name "Diaphanous" was inspired by my uncle's immediate exclamation upon seeing the photo, and he encouraged me to submit it for this grant opportunity. At the time I took this photograph, I had recently discovered the rule of thirds, and I was eager to incorporate it into my craft in the hopes of enhancing the aesthetics of my work. To achieve the desired effect, I crouched down to get both bars in alignment with my younger sister, creating the illusion of her being much larger while emphasizing the difference in size between her and the other children in the frame.

Look Up To Love is a photograph that was taken from the inside of the Borra Caves in Ananthagiri Hills of the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh, India. The title, Look Up To Love, signifies the notion that in order to find the beautiful things in life, like love, it is important to have a positive mindset. Looking up symbolizes moving on from losses in the past.

I recently have been getting into portraits. My friend and I went to the dollar store and picked up some props. My inspiration behind this work was the subject trying to reach an unattainable goal. There are many small parts of the photograph that add to this idea such as the heart shaped glasses and the balloon with a happy face on it. The idea of freedom and happiness was supposed to be conveyed by how he is floating away and free.

My name is Jack P. and I am a student at University High School. I believe photos capture one moment in time, leaving the viewer to wonder about the rest of the story. As a story-teller, I am often interested in the tension between nature and people. This scene struck me while out walking around Point Reyes, National Seashore. There is a rugged beauty to the area: the boat, while hauntingly beautiful, is a product of what mother nature’s wrath can do. And yet, the whole scene was so peaceful and dream-like because of the heavy clouds surrounding it. During post production, I tried to highlight the essence of that tension. The clouds on the left of the boat show a blue tint, and to the right, a yellow-gold tint. I wanted to draw the colors out through editing to emphasize the serenity and isolation the viewer experiences. The blues are meant to represent the sad part of the story, the brutality of nature, and the forgottenness of the boat. The yellows are meant to capture the happy side of the story, the peacefulness of the scene, and the shockingly beautiful contrast between the natural landscape and manmade boat.

This set of pieces was inspired by my passion for house-watching.

A negative utopia is equivalent to the society we live in—but there’s no such thing as “utopia”.

Never liked art very much, but for this particular piece I worked very hard on.

This alebrije represents my spiritual guide and has the 4 elements in it, each part of its body contains an animal that represents the element, it has fox ears which is fire, a cat body which is earth, bat wings which is the air and its sea horse tail that represents water.

It was something entirely new to me, I went in almost blind but I enjoyed the experience and the new materials I got to work with.

Yayoi and her artwork were symbolized by a mushroom house.

This piece was completed in school during the 2023 spring semester and was inspired from a screenshot of a movie.

As I grow older, my grasp on my core values and interests is slipping as I lose sight of my passions in the whirlwind of academic pressure.