This issue’s Spotlight On The Arts is, junior Bella Giaquinta. Bella Giaquinta is an aspiring photographer, currently enrolled in AP Photography. Recently, Bella photographed a series of photos featuring three boys in a laundromat called “Laundry Day”.

The photos shot are the boys lounging in a laundromat; in some pictures, the boys are sitting in the machines and in others, the boys are standing around.

Bella wanted to do something different than what others had ever seen before. She specifically picked these models because “they all look quite similar. I put them in the laundromat because everything there is the same. I thought it would be interesting to put three almost identical guys in a setting where everything looks the same.”

Each photo portrays a sense of individuality, even though the subjects look identical. Each guy sits in the same type of machine, but, it is their expressions that convey their differences to the world. Mr. Zimmerman, the photography teacher at Marymount, sees that “one of the boys seems like a sweet boy, one seems like a responsible older brother, and one is like no mother in America would let their daughter date him. It is remarkable how she captures their personalities in every picture.”

When choosing this particular location, Bella knew exactly what she wanted her audience to feel: even if everyone has obligations, they must find a way to always be different and express themselves. The similar setting and models illustrate this message perfectly, as each picture gives the audience a different feeling of individualism.

Bella was always interested in photography, and when starting Photography A last year, her interest spiked through the roof. She thanks Mr. Zimmerman for this as she learned most of what she knows through his class.

For the photos, Bella originally planned to use a digital camera but ended up using her iPhone instead because the lighting worked better.

Currently, Bella is working on a project for AP Photography called “Teenage Dreams and Los Angeles Fever”.