Two deer walk along a cul-de-sac, half their bodies bathed in a shaft of sunlight as they pass in front of a yellow road sign. In another frame, dark shrubbery and a bending tree encircle a mountain landscape illuminated by brilliant light. A separate series of three photos reveals hands pressing against a translucent orange window frame, with the rest of the person remaining obscured. Each photograph taken by senior Claire Zhao captures moments both serene and strange, showcasing the depth of her artistic vision and perception of the world. 

Claire first picked up a camera in her Introduction to Journalism class in frosh year, where she learned the fundamentals of photography and composition. After obtaining a personal camera in her sophomore year, she began to explore the creative aspects of her photos and find her personal photography style.

“The main difference in journalistic and artistic photography is what liberties you can take with the photo,” Claire said. “In journalism, when I take a photo, I have to present the facts or the truth of how you see it. But in artistic photography, I try to experiment more with mood, lighting and colors. I love to capture these little strange moments that might not seem that interesting to the average passerby but give me a way to express my ideas.”

Claire initially focused on wildlife photography, capturing pictures of birds and landscapes around her neighborhood and at nearby trails. During photo sessions, she tried to seek out lighting or subjects that drew her attention. One of her favorite memories was shooting an eagle soaring overhead with a snake clutched in its talons at the Los Gatos Creek Trail, where she often takes photos. 

“It’s really calming when I’m observing my environment and seeing what is worth taking a photo of,” Claire said. “It makes me feel like I’m blended into my surroundings, like I’m part of whatever nature landscape I’m in. As I’m using my camera to take a photo, it captures that feeling of being in the wilderness or whatever I’m photographing.”

Over time, Claire branched out into street photography, capturing architecture and portraits while experimenting more with directed photography. She enjoys conveying ideas and narratives through her photography by immersing herself in the subjects of the images.

“I try to really put myself into the shoes of whatever I’m photographing,” Claire said. “I imagine sometimes, if I were that bird, what would it feel like to be in this moment and flying? If I were the person that I’m taking a portrait of, what would it feel like to see through their eyes? I basically understand what kind of a person they are, what kind of emotions they’re feeling and then try to express that through how I frame the photo.”

Claire’s connection to her surroundings in photography extends into her daily life, where she is deeply attuned to the people around her and driven by a desire to help and support them. Close friend senior Natalie Liu admires Claire’s consistent care for her friends and attentiveness to their feelings.

“She’s really empathetic,” Natalie said. “Whenever one of our friends talks about their problems, she’ll always respond and she has really good responses. She’s always present and very reliable. I can always count on her to listen to my rambling and be there for me.”

In addition to photography, Claire enjoys expressing herself through creative writing and poetry, which she uses to convey what images alone cannot. In the summers of sophomore and junior year, she studied creative writing at the California State Summer School for the Arts. At the camp, she worked on a project where she layered poems she wrote on top of candid photos of her friends, blending her love for words and images into a cohesive artistic expression. 

“Creative writing has introduced me to so many different concepts and so many new ways of looking at the world that I haven’t been aware of before,” Claire said. “Even just reading other people’s work: that’s another method of absorbing what other people think and being able to understand that.”

This openness to multiple viewpoints shapes not only Claire’s writing, but also defines the way she moves through the world. Close friend senior Claire Perng notes Claire’s unique ability to examine situations beyond surface-level assumptions, finding what others might overlook or fail to recognize. 

“Her strength is her ability to see things from multiple perspectives, both in social situations or with photography,” Claire said. “She’s able to stay reasonably impartial and say, ‘Maybe the general perception of this issue is this, but I think something important to consider is also that,’ and so on.”

Whether in her photography, writing or schoolwork, Claire’s creativity and attention to detail is evident in the level of her work. Math teacher Caren Furtado, who has taught Claire since her junior year, commends Claire for her sincerity and commitment, both as a student and as a person. 

“Claire lets her work do all the talking, and her work is always of the highest quality,” Furtado said. “She can get across her thoughts and her ideas and just the amazing work that she’s capable of without having to beat her drum all the time. That’s something truly special about her.”