Photo Society hosted its first meeting this semester to discuss basic information such as Remind codes and Instagram handles as well as future plans in room 2304 on Jan. 31. The club’s mission is to educate students about photography.
Sophomore and co-president Rayna Parikh was one of two students who restarted the club. All the previous photo society officers except one graduated last year, leaving Photo Society unmanaged.
“It was kind of a club two years ago but then it fell off, so then this year we got in contact with one of the old members,” Parikh said. “He helped us restart it.”
Parikh’s motivation for pioneering the revival of Photo Society stems from her experience with and passion for photography.
“I took photography seriously last year,” Parikh said. “It’s just really fun to try and take photos of things in cool ways and submitting them to competitions and seeing some of your pieces win, it’s really rewarding. It’s fun to see your art look cool.”
Sophomore Ruby Olsen has one year of photography experience and joined Photo Society to support her friends and improve her skills.
“I hope to learn mainly on my own [phone] camera how to get better,” Olsen said. “Although I have a Canon camera I know I’m not going to use it that much, so I hope I can get better at iPhone photography. So far I’m feeling good, it seems like a good group of people. It’s small so I hope it grows. I’m excited.”
Sophomore Wesley George joined the club because sophomore and president Dhara Agrawal encouraged him to. He was one of around 10 people who attended the meeting.
“I knew she was passionate about photography and I wanted to see what she would do with it,” George said. “It was fun to see a bunch of people who are passionate about photography and art together. I’m interested to see what the club will do in the future and the activities they will host to provide the Bellaire community with the opportunity to experience photography.”
George took a photography class in seventh grade, which inspired his love for photography.
“I really enjoy visual art forms that can be found in the world that I don’t need to draw and create and that I can see,” George said. “I like to take something that I can see and to show it in a different light to make it more beautiful.”
Junior Jane Apple became the secretary of Photo Society after Parikh reached out to her. She started photography last year and enjoyed it so much that she wanted to continue photography.
“We all had a photography class together last year, but we've kind of gone away from that and just being able to have something to continue doing photography even if we’re not in the class,” Apple said.
Apple’s responsibilities as secretary include organizing the club’s notes, creating calendars and managing the Google Drive. After the introductory meeting, Apple is excited to share photography with other students.
“I like it because anything is so much more enjoyable when you have a community of people who also enjoy it, and having a group of people who share the same passion as you and being able to work together is fun,” Apple said. “I hope we're able to grow members and help people grow a love for photography and an understanding of photography because it's an art. It excites me and it makes me excited to think that it could be something that excites someone else.”
Photo Society’s Remind is @photosocietybhs and Instagram is @bhs.photosociety.
