Akash Salgia

 

Akash worked closely with two knowledgeable mentors as he conducted his research: Mr. Bill Johnson, our middle school social studies teacher, and Ms. Stacy Westervelt, our middle school art teacher. Mr. Johnson, being an accomplished poet, is an observant, deep thinker and therefore was instrumental in helping Akash to realize his motives within his art. He challenged Akash with these questions: What drives your impulse to take a shot?What subjects do you find yourself drawn to?What drives your decision-making when you alter a photograph? Ms. Westervelt, on the other hand, is an accomplished photographer with a vast technical knowledge of photo enhancement technology. She was instrumental in helping Akash understand the intricacies of the Photoshop program and how to make his pictures visually appealing.

 

During his presentation Thursday, October 10, the good work that Akash did with his mentors shone through. He taught us about the many ways to edit photos and his own criteria for a good photograph. He then showed us his portfolio—photograph after photograph of beautiful, natural scenes. He   explained why he took each shot and how he edited each one to enhance its strong points. 

As the audience members perused his photographs at the end of the presentation, they encouraged Akash to experiment with even more genres in photography. Let’s hope that he does and that he shares them with us once again! Congratulations, Akash, on being our newest Center for Excellence Junior Research Fellow.