MHS senior turns knack for photography into art scholarship

MHS senior turns knack for photography into art scholarship

Pledge headed to Art Institute of Tennessee

Marion School District It was just two years ago that Marion High School senior Angela Pledge was not real certain what her career path should be.

She was already taking chorus, art and band as a way to express herself. She, like most teenagers, was using her cell phone to record her and her friends’ day-to-day experiences.

Then she noticed how photographs could express feelings and thoughts, how photos could tell a story.

That’s when Angela decided that photography was what she, with the encouragement of her parents, wanted to do.

In an essay she had to write for a scholarship application, Angela said, “My photographs represent what is important to me: expressing myself through the arts.

When I look at my pictures, I see how people can put their feeling into something that they believe in. Each of my photographs is an observable form of artistic expression and each shows how one can express their feelings… “I love how you can tell a story about how you are someone else feels through pictures. When you put images together, you can tell your story, leading to extraordinary results. Photography is a way to share your personal views.”

The idea took off and her photos must have shown how she expressed the desire to pursue the art. With just a little concentration and some help from a couple of MHS faculty members, Angela applied for and was awarded a $10,000 scholarship to the Art Institute of Tennessee in Nashville.

“Band, art and chorus are all arts and a way to express myself,” Angela said.

Her photographic mentor at MHS was Cristina Carter, who at one time intended to major in photography in college and still has a lot of photographic equipment. She was gracious enough to allow Angela the use of her cameras to get a concrete idea about the art form.

“Angela was looking into colleges and happened upon the Art Institute.

When she told me she was interested in photography, I told her about my experience and offered to let her use my camera to see if it was really an interest she wanted to pursue as a career. She took my camera around campus for a few weeks and we would look at the pictures after and talk about them,” Carter said.

“She makes you want to work with her.

“The admissions woman for the AI mentioned the scholarship to Angela and we decided it wouldn't hurt to at least try; if anything it would be good practice.

She is in Art II and asked Miranda Rippard to help her with perspective. Mrs.

Rippard worked with her on how to take more than just a picture; how to look at an object from every angle and find a way to tell a story with a photograph. I have known Angela for three years and she has always loved art. She is not the best at expressing herself and her feelings, so she has taken up art as a way to express herself.”

Angela is not sure what aspect of photographer she wants to specialize in yet, she just knows photography is a career in which she can

express herself.

By Mike Douglas