Senior Elliott Wesa talked to Mr. Cummins about his work, specifically photography.

So why do you do art & photography?
My family has a long history with photography and the arts. My mother is an art teacher, my two uncles were photographers, my grandfather was a hobby photographer, and my brother is a hobby photographer. Ever since I can remember, art has been part of my life. Working with lots of art materials, I found that I happen to be pretty good at taking photos.

You mentioned always doing art at a young age. What are some of your early memories?
I have been doing art forever. My mom would put out paper and markers for me to color on and I would color on myself and leave the paper clean but I wouldn’t be. To me art is the experience– it is being in the moment. This is maybe why I like photography because it is capturing and sharing moments and experience with others. I don’t know if I will feel this way 10 years from now, but I hope so.

Could you describe some of your favorite pieces and the ideas behind them?
I really like my gutter shot. I shot it in downtown Crystal Lake next to the Raue Center during finals week last January. I saw the ice as I was walking around to get my mind off of school. When I shot it, I tried looking at it from different points of view. I like how the ice abstracts the downspout and the contrast of the red of the gutter with the glossy feel of the ice.

The Reilly picture I shot in August. A group of us got together to do a photoshoot for fun, and we started playing off of a modern twist of Peter Pan’s lost boys. I shot it in a cornfield and I like how the black marks on his face contrast with the texture of the corn and how the look says I mean business. It is a darker piece, but I want the viewer to sense emotion and start to interpret a story about why a man would be in a cornfield.

Do you have artists you admire?
I occasionally look at others’ work, but I find looking up photographers is counterproductive. I don’t feel I can live up to some of them, and I don’t want to copy their ideas. Everyone has their own style and ideas. Be happy with what your style is. I do like my Uncle David’s work. He was a traditional on site photographer whose images display amazing light. His pictures show such an amazing control of natural light that it appears that the sun was working for him.

 You’ve taken Visual Art and Tech, Art and Inventions, Art and Identity, Photography I, and now AP 2d Studio. Why take an art class?
Basic elements of art impact and connect everything. Art allows you to find out who you are. It is a way of expressing yourself and what you believe. It helps you discover ideas and thoughts that you can’t find anywhere else.