This photo was taken utilizing a splash screen and the unique patterns created by the water trapped within it. My father is the man in the center and his expression is fake smile clearly hiding his discontent with our splash filled dinner. The patterns of the water and the capturing of my fathers fake expression are what made this photo one of my favorites. Thank you, and I hope you find this photo as interesting as me!

I took this image in Vienna, Austria at a restaurant. I saw this woman smoking a cigarette out of the corner of my eye and decided to take a photo. I was using my zoom lens and had my camera in black and white. Everything came together for me with this photo as her hand came up in the perfect way and she smiled a little at the same time the person in between her and I moved slightly, perfectly framing the photo.

For this photography I was inspired by creating a surrealist essence for my photo. I distorted some shapes in the background as well as the flower vase to achieve this.

When I noticed this scene, my mind immediately went to the ideas of mother-daughter relationships, passage of time, and the innocence of childhood. The black and white edit illuminates the powerful light shining on the child’s face. As a child myself, I see another young person looking in wonder at what comes next, symbolizing an idea of innocence and the unknown. As a mother, one might see another mom reflecting on how quickly time goes by while moving into adulthood and attempting to find innocence through an “inner-child exploration.” The image could also be an appreciation, sense of pride, or tinge of sadness or jealousy that the mother is experiencing as she watches her child. This image serves as a reminder to cherish our time and live life with wonder as it speeds by. However, the most unique aspect of this image is the many interpretations that lie within the viewer.

It is a beautiful photo taken by my drone above Hog Island in Inverness, California, a small town close to Tomales Bay. Thank you for your consideration.

I am trying to portray how someone sees a stranger. One might feel fear, confusion, or anxiety when in this situation.

It was a great photo I took and edited with a friend while visiting our old elementary school in which we met each other, we have been friends for over 10 years now so it was cool to go back.

As I deeply enjoy experimentation, I wanted to try a creative painting with light style image. My teacher had previously given us examples of cool, creative images and the one with steel wool caught my eye. Determined to build off of what I had been exposed to, I found an open space and set out to make a conceptual image. I knew I wanted a silhouette in the middle of the flying sparks, so I attempted to stand relatively still while I swung the whisk I was using around. After capturing the image, I turned down the saturation of the person in order to give it a more ghostly appearance which gives the peace that question mark that fuels curiosity and intrigues the viewer. Despite a few sintered hairs here and there, my curiosity and experimentation produced this successful image!

This art piece as for a self portrait project at school, and I made this piece thinking about representing myself. I really love this piece and took me a lot of time to experiment and think about composition and lighting in the picture and I'm personally very proud of it.

I decided to take this self portrait photo because i feel like it really represents a part of me. My photo shows how I love to try new hobbies, and that im always doing something whether its cooking, like in this photo, sports, and other small hobbies. I decided to take the photo in long exposure because I think that it really shows the movement I was trying to portray. I also decided to invert the colors because it made the photo have more activity, and it brought the focus of the photo to myself, instead of the background.

I was celebrating my friend's birthday and as it got darker I saw a beautiful ray of light form on the stairs. When we had a moment I took her portrait sitting there, not just as a piece of art, but as a present.

This film is about the turn of events that happen in a relationship when the couple can't make the relationship work anymore.

I took this photo over the summer while I was out with my friend. We were walking home, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw our local market, Scotty's, in a whole different way. It was empty, but all the lights were still on inside. That night, it looked mysterious. A place that had been ordinary to me became, with that difference, extraordinary. I take photos because I feel that it's a way to capture moments that other people might not acknowledge and to sum up feelings that might not be captured with words.

Over summer, I brought my DSLR camera on my trip to Asia, and I was able to see many and experience new things along the way! One of my most notable experiences was being able to take pictures in Nara, Japan, which is a tourist spot known for its deer parks and being able to interact with the deer. However, the shot that I'm submitting is rather tame compared to other interactions between deer and people when I visited, as it depicts a exposed, sleeping deer in the sunlight. I really liked this picture as it showed the contrast between the playful and relaxing sides of the deer, as well as putting a spotlight on a specific deer with the use of light. When I got to editing this photo, I tried to keep it as natural as possible, slightly increasing contrast to allow that one deer to stand out amongst its peers. The biggest edit I made was in the highlights, as by editing the picture, I was able to showcase the background grass and introduce that new element into the whole scene.

This photo represents how sometimes even something so small can make your day. The way this picture came about was that I was having a stressful morning and as I walking to class, a bee seemed to be attracted to my shoes and was circling me. Being able to stop, and look around made me aware and made me smile. Seeing the bee was the highlight of my morning and my attitude switched to being more positive and looking forward to the rest of the day. This picture brought me joy and what it proposes is that sometimes the smallest things can truly make your day.

When I take photographs, I look for subjects that hold stories. Whether they are stories of life or culture, I look for subjects that can tell a unique history of their pasts and can give a viewer insight into a new world. This image, taken in a Taiwanese Buddhist temple, tells a story of an endless cycle of birth and rebirth, as well as the connection between nature and humankind. The ribbons shown in this image contain people’s prayers and hope with a wide range of appearances: while some are new boasting vibrant colors and silky texture, others appear faded and withered – almost as if turning into the bark of the tree from which they hang; once again, returning to nature. These prayers reflect the aspirations and dreams of everyday people who continue to prolong the hopes of those that came before them. This connection between the ribbons and nature mirrors a cycle of life that is found in the ideas of Buddhism. While capturing this photograph, I hoped to capture the contrast between the new and old prayer ribbons and the years of hope and faith that they reflect.

It was probably the first month of me being here in America, when I arrived at the end of the summer vacation. where I went to my first metal show and also the fist time seeing my cousin in his band. I took my camera I borrowed from the school and tried to get as many shots as possible from my cousins band. At the end I looked through all of them and saw this picture which I liked the most because the entire band was looking in that moment in the same direction looking like they just played is good as possible.

Track and field is an activity that has brought my family closer together. In this photograph, my sister walks off of the track after winning her 800m championship race. The image depicts the disbelief on her face after winning her race. All of the effort, training, perseverance and determination is shown and nothing is held back.

In the summer of 2022, I was fortunate enough to get to visit South Africa with my dad. While we were there, we explored Cape Town and went on safari in the nature reserves adjoining Kruger National Park. We saw many incredible animals while we were there, but the Cape Buffalo really stood out to me. Though not considered a typically beautiful animal, the Cape Buffalo has an intimidating, majestic presence about it. It was massive and in some ways kind of ugly on the outside but moved in a calm and dignified way. This particular buffalo was alone, which also stood out to me as they usually travel in herds. It came quite close to our safari vehicle and allowed me to take this photo of the dramatic appearance of its powerful horns and head.

The artwork aims to pose the question: can society look beyond addiction and still recognize the beauty and humanity of an individual? Does the mere appearance of the cigarette make you look down upon the artwork? Does it change your perspective? Would you appreciate it more if it was without? What does this say about how we treat addicts? Many of us are in need but are turned away because of societal prejudices surrounding addiction. Will our flaws forever define our beauty?