Alex Hermacinski ’16 has been taking photography classes since her middle school years, and it has paid off. Recently, Hermacinski’s artwork was exhibited in the International Somerville Toy Camera Festival; she was the only high school artist featured.
Hermacinski works with both digital and film photography. Since middle school, Hermacinski has continued to take photography classes, including Film Photography and Intensive Photography, every year; she even participated in a National Geographic student trip to Paris to study photography in the summer of 2013.
“Alex is an amazing and talented student, who has produced some beautiful work,” said Mr. Doug Johnson, who taught Hermacinski in Beginning Photo, Intermediate Photo and Photography Intensive classes.
Hermacinski’s classmates also noticed the specialty of her photos. “Her artwork was always so mysterious and captivating. She would bring in a youthful perspective on the subject matter that invited praise from all of the other students,” said Gabby Clifford ’16, who took Photography Intensive with Hermacinski last year.
Hermacinski loves photography because of the lengthy process involved. “It takes a lot of patience and practice, but that just makes getting the final product more exciting and more of an accomplishment,” she said.
One of her influences is Annie Leibovitz, whom she admires for her fashion photography. “Fashion is also one of my interests,” said Hermacinski.
In fact, fashion is a big part of Hermacinski’s life. “If you know Alex, you know that she is very interested in high fashion and the fashion industry, and that reflects a lot in the photos she produces,” said Emily Fowler ’16, who took both Intermediate Photo and Photo Intensive with Hermacinski.
The piece of artwork she submitted into the International Somerville Toy Camera Festival was captured on a Holga camera, which is a device that takes photos with multiple exposures. It depicts her sister layered over with a picture of a stone wall to add contrasting texture and patterns.
“I was overjoyed when I found out that my picture had been selected, as it was my first time exhibiting,” said Hermacinski. “I was also the only high school student to have a picture in the show, which made the accomplishment even more special. Seeing my work in the gallery was a great reassurance that all of the hard work I put into photography is recognized.”
In the future, Hermacinski looks forward to continuing her artistic career.
“I hope to continue to my passion of photography by joining a photo club in college,” said Hermacinski.
(Christie Yu ’18, Arts Editor)