By Jonathan Yackel

Collegiate’s football team is on the two yard line, lined up for the last play of the game. It’s all or nothing. If they score here, they win the game. If they fail, they lose. The students watching are silent, with every spectator entranced with the quarterback’s calls. The ball is snapped. The quarterback steps back and passes it into the endzone. The bleachers explode with cheers, and everyone is on their feet celebrating the win. Well, everyone except Sarah Kennon (‘22), who is frantically swapping between cameras trying to capture the excitement of the students and the atmosphere of the game. 

Kennon’s new role as the designated student section photographer doesn’t end when the final whistle is blown. After arriving home, she has to upload hundreds of photos to her computer and share the memories she captured with the student body. For Kennon, school events aren’t solely about being a part of the community and cheering on peers, but also photographing the joy of the student body and capturing moments from her senior year. Although her work is rigorous, Kennon doesn’t see the self-assigned role she plays as a chore, as she “really enjoy[s] it. Seeing everyone so excited… makes me want to continue to take pictures of everyone… You can see how we enjoy being together. It gives me something to look forward to… I’m excited to get home and look at them.” For her, taking pictures is a way to spread happiness and support throughout the student body, while making memories and personal connections that Kennon says “will be a big part of looking back at my high school career.” 

While Kennon can now be seen at games with a professional camera, her spontaneous photography career had humble beginnings. She started with Upper School photography teacher Taylor Dabney’s Fundamentals of Photography class as a freshman but stopped taking pictures after that. Then, in her junior year, she noticed Sarina DePalma (‘21) snapping pictures at Brunch with an old camera and was immediately inspired. Reminded of a camera she had in her childhood, she dug through some drawers and brought the small device to the first high school football game of her senior year, Collegiate’s Sept. 3 victory over Goochland, thinking she would “just take a couple pictures before and after,” but she ended up snapping photos throughout the night. 

Originally, Kennon would send the pictures to whoever was in them directly. However, her photography skills were instantly a hit, and it became impossible to send them out individually, as “everyone really loves them.” People enjoyed seeing themselves in photographs with their friends, all supporting fellow classmates while coming together as a class. For the next game, Collegiate’s Sept. 11 loss to Trinity, Kennon brought a higher quality camera and eventually ended up taking hundreds of pictures, which resulted in folders of photos being sent out to every student who attended or asked for photos. Although she edits her personal photos, Kennon believes that people should “do what they want” with pictures of themselves and refrains from editing pictures of others. Kennon has taken photos at every major school event since, including the Spikeball Tournament, where she was approached by Collegiate School asking for permission to use her photos on their Instagram. 

While providing photos for everyone at sporting and social events, Kennon also uses photography to document her senior year. Taking photos from her perspective throughout the day and when she is with friends, she uses her camera to make memories. Kennon believes that “This is definitely something I am going to look back on and show my kids … [and] remember the good moments.” She believes that taking photos will allow her to remember future memories, although she wouldn’t do it professionally. 

Although Kennon’s photography knowledge and skills have “definitely improved,” it isn’t about the photography for her. Yes, she does enjoy photography, but when asked if she would take pictures of anything else, she responded quickly with “I don’t think I would be into photography without the people around me. That’s what interests me the most, is seeing people be happy and celebrating.” It allows her to make connections with people she has never met, and do something she really enjoys: capturing the happiness of her community.

All photos by Sarah Kennon.