Since the addition of Photojournalism at East, and the desire for pictures has gone up, the number of photographers at East has jumped drastically. While a couple years ago there were only a handful of photographers at East such as Ben Hanley and Ava Kornfeld, there is now a community.
Most photographers start out with sports photography. It is action-packed with a lot of emotions from both the crowd and the players. There are also many opportunities to go out and shoot with plenty of games, matches and meets throughout the week.
Freshman Ryder Meek, a sports marketing student at East, loves to take pictures of basketball games and other sports.
“I’ve been taking pictures since last summer, but started to really get into it at the beginning of the school year,” Meek said.
He attends many sports events at East with his camera, taking pictures and getting coverage. However, Meek says his hopes are to expand his style to incorporate event coverage like weddings and parties.
While sports photography has been popularized by its large audience, intense action and potential for making money, there are other styles that have become popular at East. Creative portraits and event coverage has begun to make its appearance. Students have been covering more school events such as the musical, prom, Ujamaa and more.
But where are all of these new photographers coming from and why has it become such an interest among students? Junior Maela Bazemore, third-place winner of the Charlotte Observer photography contest, suggests that the classes East offers have played a key role in popularizing photography.
“I think photography culture at East is heavily influenced by our class options and our staff that encourage photography,” Bazemore said. “Photojournalism, yearbook, newspaper and sports marketing are beloved classes at East and they
give students opportunities to get creative and try new things when it comes to photography.”
With the growing community and talent at East, different unique and creative styles have begun to emerge, expanding students’ interest in photography. “I think a key part of it is the photographers we already have at the school. Their outstanding work and creativity is a portion of the reason why people want to do something like photography,” Meek said.
Photography, similar to art, is a way to express yourself and your creativity within a frame. It holds a certain significance and purpose with each photographer.
“It’s a form of storytelling and a way to make people feel something,” Bazemore said. “However, photography is used in so many different ways– it’s hard to give it a single purpose.”
The freedom to create art with what is real and to get that “perfect shot” as Bazemore says, is what drives photographers to keep creating, and may be what is causing the recent boom in photography at East.
Having classes such as photojournalism, sports marketing, yearbook and allowing students to pursue different passions and be creative within their curriculum is a very special part of East. Each photographer here will always have a different shot from any other, and to see it from so many different perspectives and lights is a gift to the future generations of the school.
