Official Student Newspaper of Henry M. Gunn High School

The Oracle

Official Student Newspaper of Henry M. Gunn High School

The Oracle

Official Student Newspaper of Henry M. Gunn High School

The Oracle

Artist of the Month: senior Alex Barthelemy

Photo by: Wendy Qiu

The Oracle: How did you start doing photography and graphic design?
Alex Barthelemy: I taught myself by reading stuff online and talking to other people who did photography, and bounced some ideas off of [senior] Michael Underwood. I never took a photography class, but I read a lot. I took art classes when I was a little kid, and stopped at age 10 or 12. I got into photography three years ago, and from there got a camera and got all the use out of that camera, then got a newer camera.

TO: What types of things do you like taking pictures of?
AB: People. I’ve done portraits for people, but really just shooting people on their own is what I like. I walk around San Francisco and take pictures of people. I take pictures of things that catch my eye, or interesting images that seem to fit well.

TO: What made you start graphic design?
AB: I originally took Graphic Design sophomore year to get some practice in for college, because I was considering majoring in that, and thought it was a good idea to take some classes in high school. I did that for a year, and went with what the class told me.

TO: What type of design do you do?
AB: I do a lot of signs and logos. At one point, I made a design for the University of Michigan sailing team because they asked me to. Most of my logos are retro-looking. I’ve done logos for different school events. There was a contest for an online library header, and our own library wanted a logo.

TO: What’s the process of creating like?
AB: It’s nice once you come up with the idea. I’ll sit in classes and sketch out ideas around it, and when I come up with a concrete plan, I go make it. If I come up with the inspiration in the morning, such as today I started the poster for the Spring Fling and I’m already halfway done, I can get through it pretty quickly. I made the Link Crew shirts. I made other designs that I liked a lot more, but more people liked the Nemo design. I’ve made the track T-shirts for the past three years.

TO: How did you start doing One-Photo-A-Day?
AB: I saw this blog online where a guy took a Polaroid photo everyday for 19 years until the day he died, and I was inspired to do the same thing.

TO: Why did you decide to start One-Photo-A-Day?
AB: I enjoy documenting my day-to-day experience and I think it could be something great to look back upon, as well as the fact that just taking pictures often will help photo technique among other things.

TO: How do you go about choosing the picture?
AB: Usually through the course of my day at least one thing will catch my eye, but most days I take several photos, an average of 30 or so. Ultimately it boils down to the one that I like best. Sometimes, it’s pretty difficult choosing one or the other, but a lot of the times it ends with either a heads or a tails because I am incredibly indecisive.

TO: Is this something you want to do later on?
AB: I’m thinking of either majoring in graphic design or in photography. At the University of Southern California, there’s a lot of internships with big companies, which is an easy way to get a foot in the door, and I might go get a job with ABC or Apple.

—Compiled by Elsa Chu

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