Samantha Kowalick ‘25

How can I share the beauty of animals in the environments that are meaningful to me?

I used photography to explore the intersection of visual storytelling and animal science, highlighting wildlife's often-overlooked beauty. I've loved animals my entire life, and I've grown as a photographer during my years at Blair. Completing this final portfolio gave me the opportunity to combine those two passions in a meaningful way. My goal was not just to document, but to move people and to help them feel something powerful about wildlife that is often ignored in our society.

I practiced editing techniques to enhance emotion and detail, eventually developing "editing maps" to plan my adjustments, which was an approach I refined over time. I experimented with collages and compositions, especially in my threaded collage and my swan photos, where I explored mixed media and challenged myself with unpredictable environments. My proudest revision was in AP2, where I transformed earlier photos into a collage that layered images, articles, and physical textures. Every step I took to practice with new mediums deepened my understanding of visually communicating with the viewer.