Behind the Flash by// Kami Geron

We always smile for any camera we see, so meet the people behind the cameras at New Albany High School.

Photography is an art of capturing a scene or just how well your hair looks today. This art is so popular everyone takes pictures and shares them on social media for all their friends and strangers to see. Cast aside are the people who do it professionally, or are studying to, but no longer, the flash is on this story to highlight New Albany’s Media Art students.Photo: Kami Geron by Mikaela Humphrey

“I think the most interesting part about media arts is [the students] getting to use their imagination to manipulate photos,” Mrs. Schultz said. “I give them guidelines and what they do with them is create very unique pieces.”

Mrs. Schultz is the teacher for Media Arts and drawing. Her classes consist of three different divisions: level 1&2, level 3&4, and level 5&6. The curriculum centers around photographs and then directing or engineering them into many different things. Some popular assignments are underwater photo shoots, an alter-ego photo shoot, and surrealism.

“I love to plan out, take, and edit surreal pictures”, Senior Jolene Dearborn said, a level 3&4 student. “I like to put a hidden meaning in my pictures.” Dearborn says she joined the class because she was curious about different types of media used for art. She also joined because her mother loves to take pictures and hoped she could give her some tips from what she learned.Photo: The Silver Key winner in the Scholastic Art Competition Models: Kami Geron and Lilly Morgan. Photograph by Caitlin Randall

Junior Krystianna Hunt, in level 3&4,said that she loved the surrealism project where she could create something unique and bizarre. When Hunt saw that Media Arts was a class option, she knew she just had to take it because she has always loved photography.Photo: The Gold Key winner in the Scholastic Art Competition Model: Kami Geron, Photograph by Caitlin Randall

In addition to class projects, Mrs. Schultz has her students enroll in many different competitions. Some of these are the St. James Art Show, Gilda’s Club of Louisville “The Write Stuff”, Scholastic Art Show & Competition, NAFCS Secondary Art Show & Competition, Congressional Art Competition, and Ivy Tech’s Art Jam Competition.
Mrs. Schultz helps her students get college scholarships by these competitions, which give away scholarships to winners.

“I help them create a portfolio”, Mrs.Schultz said, “which is a collection of anywhere between 10 and 20 pieces of artwork.” Photo: Mikaela Humphrey by Caitlin Randall

Some winners of the NAFCS Secondary Art Show for 2016 were Caitlin Randall, Elizabeth Smith, Jolene Dearborn, and Krystianna Hunt. Kylie Crawford won the Anne Higbie Award and second place at a competition at Purdue for seniors for a quilt she made.

Other than competing and photographing, the Media Arts students say that they have a wonderful time with the class and Mrs. Schultz. Although they may not be known all that well they are working hard to create pieces of unique art. From staying after school to dress up as models and take pictures underwater to photographing nature, this class has plenty to offer to photographers and the people who want to try their hand at it.