Helena Su

Although senior Helena Su’s art comprises mostly street photography, she decided to photograph a different subject for the competition by combining two elements: a hand in shadows and a clear cube. 

“I already had the photo of the hand, and I liked it because it had good lighting,” Su said. “I thought it fit well with the theme, and I wanted to show that hands are very important when creating art.”

To make the cube, Su folded a piece of transparent film and colored it with highlighters. She shined a laser on the cube to add hues and further edited it on Adobe Photoshop. The piece, titled Create, is meant to encourage others to make their own art and share their vision. 

 “This is more dream-like and unrealistic than street photos, and I like the contrast between the hand and the film,” Su said. “The main message is there are infinite possibilities from what you create with your hands.”

Su started taking photos as a way to capture the special moments of daily life. She has a photography based Instagram account, where she posts her photos from the past year. In the future, Su hopes to continue photography as a hobby and encourages others to visit NUMU, the museum where her art is featured.