We all know that photography is a well known expertise that takes effort and creativity from all angles. The skill can portray emotions and bring stories to life, which is exactly what senior Alexis Henk accomplished to win a regional award and take her school by storm. 

Henk has been in the Photography class for three years now. Mr. Brian Hamelman, the school’s Photography and Photojournalism teacher, sent out a list of contests for his students to sign up for. Henk decided to sign up for the Scholastic Art and Writing Award. 

“I chose Scholastic specifically because the photos that were entered previously looked similar to my photos so it made me believe I had a greater chance of winning something,” said Henk.

Henk decided to submit six photos from her portfolio focusing on the topic: “How do dancers’ body language convey emotion?”

“When dancing, especially if you have danced for a long time, you experience many different emotions and feelings and I wanted to show that through photography,” said Henk, “I gave each of my subjects a different emotion, both positive and negative”

When it came to choosing which photos to submit, Henk had to determine what her strongest photos from the previous years were.

Henk talked about where she got the inspiration for the submitted photos in her portfolio. 

“My main inspiration is the photographer Annie Leibovitz. The way she captured dancers’ form caught my eye and inspired me to do something similar,” said Henk.

The award is known as a Golden Key Award, which means Henk is entered to compete nationally for her submitted application. If Henk wins nationally, which will be announced on March 23rd, her work will be published on the Scholastic Art and Writing website. 

Henk’s award winning regional portfolio is now displayed at the Fine Arts Center in Plaski, VA for guests of the museum to view. 

“The award shows that my photography could possibly be used as more than a hobby and it honestly gave me a confidence boost in my photography skills,” said Henk. 

This success proves that hobbies can quickly turn into something more significant and meaningful if the effort is visible, which in Henk’s case, it is. Our community hopes to hear good news from the Scholastic Art and Writing Award in the upcoming months to see if Henk won Nationally for her impressive portfolio.