Beyond the Lens: New Opportunities to Earn Honors in Photography

On Sunday, May 3 I met two of my photography students and their parents at Milton Academy for the Griffin Museum of Photography satellite exhibit, Singular Vision 2026: Secondary School Alliance. Each of the photography teachers from 17 participating schools could only submit four images. So just being selected by your teacher was an honor. The work was very strong. Out of 68 entries, Dana Hall sophomore E. Barnes '28 received first place! Senior L. Gupta '26 also received one of 17 Honorable Mentions. I couldn’t be prouder of them. Please see the work created by teens all around the Boston area by visiting the online exhibition. And of course, check out our very own Dana entries!

Annually, the Scholastic Art Awards gets lots of well-deserved attention, as this organization has been around for more than 100 years. It recognizes creative achievement in teenagers—and that is ALWAYS a good thing—and it’s considered the longest-running and one of the most prestigious arts and writing programs for students in grades 7–12 in the U.S. Our students do phenomenally well in the Scholastics Awards! See the slideshow of this year’s winners. We are so proud of our writers and visual artists who put themselves out there. Recent rule changes in this contest have motivated me to seek out other opportunities for our students, and this year was a very fruitful year of diverse exhibitions. 

It is incredibly impactful when our students receive "outside" confirmation that their work communicates something to a juror or jury. In all my many years of teaching, I have never had a student who received THREE awards for the same image. This was the case this year for an image called Tee Off (Triptych) by E. Barnes '28. Her photograph received a Gold Key in the Scholastic Awards this year as well as first prize for photography in the SISAL exhibit at Rivers this past April. (SISAL stands for "Small Independent School Art League" and this was our first year participating in SISAL.) Junior O. Nwadike '27 received an Honorable Mention as well! Many other Dana art students received awards in various categories.

Now Barnes' Tee Off (Triptych) image has charmed yet another juror, the director of the Griffin Museum of Photography, Crista Dix. In presenting the Griffin award, Ms. Dix said that she was drawn to “the joy exuded by this image” which was also “technically beautiful” and “visually surprising.” The very best thing about awards is the validation to keep going. To put in the work. To bring your work to the next level. 

The New York Times Learning Network has no paywall for accessing its rich content, and I am a fan. Their resources are deep and their prompts for student writing contests are excellent. This year’s Photo Essay “Local Lens” Contest received 1,423 entries. They published 9. You “do the math,” as they say. Pretty tough odds. No one had any idea how many teens would participate. But with its global reach and reputation, the NYTimes Photo Contest inviting students to “explore the place where you live” and “try to notice something that others might not see” received entries from all over the world. I loved the theme, and encouraging my students to find visual stories close to home is something that I strive to do, so this theme was a good match. Even though we were not one of the top 0.63% to be published, I am so delighted that my students participated. Submitting to this photo contest was completely optional, and I am really proud of the four students who worked hard, explored visual storytelling, and wrote detailed captions for their images. It took the NYTimes Learning Network staff months to go through all of the entries. My students received a lovely acknowledgement from the Times staff congratulating them for being in the top 25% of entries. 

As the Visual Arts Department, we know that awards help students boost their confidence and keep going with their creative pursuits.They are a form of extrinsic motivation, ingrained in our culture. But helping students develop their intrinsic motivation is something that leaves deeper roots than the validation that comes from winning a contest.