Six SHS Student-Artists Selected for ‘Through the Student Lens’ Exhibit at Marblehead Arts Association
Senior Caroline Devoe selected for second straight year; Students display traditional, modern photographic methods
SALEM (Mar. 22, 2024) – The photography of six student-artists from Salem High School was selected to the ‘Through the Student Lens 2024’ exhibit at the Marblehead Arts Association, SHS art educator Kristen McCarthy announced recently.
The annual exhibit encompasses the work of student-artists from local high schools including Bishop Fenwick, Gloucester, Marblehead, Peabody and Swampscott. The exhibit is on display from Mar. 2-Apr. 14.
SHS’s involvement in the exhibit is its largest contingent in recent years, said Ms. McCarthy, and art educator at SHS since 2016. The selections also capture the four core values of the District’s 2023-26 Strategic Plan, particularly the focus on elevating learning and empowering educators.
“When I was choosing the work, I was looking for student work strong in composition that showed elements of art and the principles of design,” she said. “It is such an advantage that we still have a darkroom. The majority of schools participating in the exhibit do not have a darkroom. I wanted people to see that we are working with a darkroom and historic, traditional methods.”
Each piece of artwork is available for purchase.
Senior Caroline Devoe, exhibiting for the second straight year, and sophomore Lily Navins each submitted cyanotype images, both using traditional methods of photography using chemicals and a darkroom.
Ms. DeVoe’s photo, titled ‘Transparent Cyanotype,’ combines a digital photo printed into a transparency to create the cyanotype. With her work titled ‘Wet Cyanotype,’ Ms. Navins also developed her photo in a darkroom, but exposed her image to the sun, one of the earliest development methods in photography.
Unique among all the work in the exhibit, sophomore Alexia Coleman learned to use the pinhole image method to create her fused print, titled ‘Pinhole and Positive Pinhole.’
Junior Vihanna Frias and sophomores Isaiah Romero and Charlotte Feldman-Conners each used modern digital photography for their images. Ms. Frias’ photograph, titled ‘Pattern,’ offers acute angles in black and white while Mr. Romero’s ‘Untitled’ can be interpreted horizontally or vertically.
Ms. Feldman-Conners’ image titled ‘Stacked’ depicts the perfect angles and curvature of presumably stacked chairs in black and white.
Ms. McCarthy noted that five of the students are currently enrolled in her Photography 1 course, albeit experiencing photography for the first time, while Ms. Devoe is enrolled in Photography 1 as part of an independent study.
“I’m really impressed with their artwork,” noted Ms. McCarthy, an alumnae of UMass Dartmouth ‘01 and Syracuse University ‘08. “On the opening night of the show, it was well-received, especially the analog work. People were reminiscing about the old methods of photography.”
