Bonita Vista High (BVH) holds numerous talented student photographers and artists and provides many ways for these students to demonstrate their skills. As of recently, the Association of Texas Photography Instructors (ATPI) contest announced three BVH student winners. Photography, Advanced Placement (AP) 2D Art and Design teacher, Edwin Lim persuaded many of his students to enter this competition.
The ATPI competition first opened to many students in early November 2023 which consisted of a wide variety of categories for both beginner and advanced students. However, they also carried a sizable amount of categories for videos as well. BVH senior Saul Gonzalez was one of the many contestants who entered the competition and won the beginner documentary film category.
“I joined because Lim pressured us [students] to join a competition because he believes in our abilities and supports us. I [took the opportunity] since there [were] not too many people entering the competition,” Gonzalez said. “I wanted to learn more and express my creative outlooks on a [variety of] things because I like analyzing nature. I wanted [the chance] to share more on how beautiful and expressive [my photography is] and show people [that] the world is beautiful.”
Students like Gonzalez wanted to be able to share their photographs with the world. Lim persuaded his students to enter the competition and encouraged them by telling them that winning contests would increase their grades. Furthermore, BVH senior Desiree Gushee also entered in the contest but took a different approach and created an animation.
“I saw that there was a category I was interested in. Usually I don’t try and enter in competitions but I wanted to give it a try since I saw several examples from the last classes [Lim shows to his students], which inspired me. I had doubts at first but I had time to think about it and get rid of all that doubt,” Gushee said.
The competition gave numerous of the contestants a confidence boost by allowing them to try something different and assisted them to get out of their “comfort shell and to experience new things.” When Gushee had doubts within herself, her family and friends supported her and encouraged her when she took up photography.
“I went on Twitter and found a tweet saying I won [the animation category]. That is when I’d say it all kicked in. I felt very happy and proud [of] myself. I told my brother and he was very excited and proud [for me]. When my parents got home they were all so excited when I [told] them the news and they congratulated me,” Gushee said.
Gushee received words of encouragement and assistance from her family and friends that were supportive and excited over the fact that she had won. Many other students, like BVH sophomore Sebastian Bello, had also received assistance from their loved ones and used that support to enter the contest.
“My parents mainly [inspired me], they’re always big supporters of everything I do and I wouldn’t be half the person I am without them. Lim really facilitated the entering process and was very supportive throughout the process as well, giving me the time I needed with the slow hardware I had at home. My friends, especially those who helped me through the process, were a giant help, and that film wouldn’t exist without them either,” Bello said.
Throughout the process of creating his piece, Bello was also able to reflect on the suspenseful aspects of his film—especially the reveal of the monster at the end—winning the beginner narrative category within the contest. Additionally, Bello is not the only one who expressed emotions within his video but Gushee has as well. Gushee explains her thought process when it comes to taking photographs to express her emotions.
“When I express my emotions through my art, I usually create something based on what I’m feeling at that moment. I show my emotions through the colors I use. For my photos, I express my emotions by how I edit them. When I’m feeling happy I make the colors vibrant. If I’m feeling down I would make the colors black and white,” Gushee said.
Gushee submitted an animation about the life of a young civilian without insecurity, developing into a “self-conscious [person] who hides their true selves away” and as a teenager, faces several struggles such as social pressures, trying to fit in and negative voices that can really affect one’s life. She wanted to express a lot of emotion and has always had a deep passion for art, which began during her childhood. She uses her artwork as a method of emphasizing the value of viewing art and understanding the history behind it.
“I picked this topic, [animation character development], because it’s something that I struggle with. I’ve always struggled with fitting in, I have had multiple experiences in which I was surrounded by toxic people and I often talked down to myself,” Gushee said. “I picked the animation category because I wanted to portray a lot of emotion which I find easier to do with drawings. And since there wasn’t a drawing category, as far as I know, I chose animation.”
Similarly, Gonzalez also uses the factor of emotion within his photographs and filmography. He submitted a documentary film of a football game and took sentimental photographs throughout the game, expressing people’s emotions about the final game of the season. He takes the opportunity to share his accomplishment and add it into his resume.
“I will probably add [the winning] onto my resume because Lim says that it is good to add awards and acculates onto your resume. It [also] helps me gain confidence for future competitions and taking photos or becoming a filmmaker or photographer,” Gonzalez said. “I usually tend to go for the positive side of the photographs with much expression. I usually focus my photographs on social or mental health issues so I [ like to] show how happy life is.”
