Reestablished photography club engages new members with interactive weekly challenges

Photo by Sarah Zhou

The photography club’s Instagram advertises upcoming events for members to participate in, such as the Uganda fundraiser.

Despite inactivity last year due to the graduation of all the previous year’s officers, the photography club has been reinstated by ASB for the 2022-2023 school year and has begun planning events such as merchandise design and weekly challenges for members.

The all-junior officer team — president Kylee O’Brien, vice-president Maia Shama, secretary Hannah Munson and treasurer Sanjoli Gupta — restarted the club to introduce new members to different art forms and improve members’ skills. 

The club meets every Red Thursday during lunch in club adviser Gina Rodriguez’s room, with a consistent attendance of 15 members. 

O’Brien, who joined the club freshman year while meetings were still held over Zoom, rejoined after having previously enjoyed her elective photography class while being homeschooled.

“My mom always had me take photos of her for her blog,” O’Brien said. “I just found myself enjoying taking pictures of other people and the environment as well.”

O’Brien hopes that by implementing club events, members will be more engaged with photography and become more confident with their photos.

The club has kicked off the year with multiple interactive events for members including picture competitions, challenges involving Adobe software and experimentation with new photography techniques using a mobile phone. Additionally, the club plans to design a club hoodie and encourages members to submit designs or photographs to be featured on the merchandise. 

“Photography club is a lot more engaging this year because we’re planning more interactive events so it really is a lot of fun,” Shama said. “We are also hoping to plan a show in the spring with photos people have taken throughout the year to exhibit people’s progress. It’s very rewarding to watch people grow after learning things from our club presentations.”

Officers also want to host year-long projects to keep members involved, as they feel that many are quiet and may not participate much in club meetings, but do submit photos for weekly challenges.

By increasing their social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, the club hopes to attract more members and use the platforms as a showcase for members’ photography.

“I love this club because, even though I’m an officer, I feel like I can learn from all the members of the club,” Shama said. “Photography is an art form and everyone has different approaches or different things they like to do with it, so it’s a good opportunity to talk to more people about something we all enjoy.”