Behind the Scenes of The Spirit

Photo courtesy: The Spirit Instagram

The fresh monthly Spirit issues lying around different corners of the high school building are an accumulation of the long hours writers spent typing on their laptops, editing for hours and hours. However, when we look through the pages of the new issue, what really makes these pieces of writing stand out are the visual elements that bring the magazine to life. This aesthetic appeal is thanks to The Spirit’s talented illustrators and photographers who make sure every article is accompanied by a burst of artistic creativity! Why don’t we meet a few? 

Aditi Kumar (12), a photographer for The Spirit, has been part of the team since her sophomore year. As a photographer, she is set with different tasks every week. One day she’ll be taking headshots of individuals, but on the very next day, you can spot her in the Main Gym taking pictures of the Girls’ Varsity Basketball team. No matter what photos she is taking for The Spirit, she is always thrilled to share her passion for photography with the high school community. “Being a photographer for The Spirit, it’s such a good avenue to practice my photography skills because it exposes you to different types of photography,” she adds.  Reflecting back as this is her last year in The Spirit, she exclaimed “I love the photography team this year. As we get to work on bigger projects this year, such as the promotional videos, I just hope to continue to contribute to the community.”

Na Yoon Cha-Ryu (11), an illustrator for The Spirit, joined the team this year. Once the writers have submitted their articles, she and her fellow illustrators start working on their illustrations. Depending on the writer’s vision of the article, she searches for references that could help with her drawing. “Once, I had to draw an illustration of Mozart wearing headphones, so I pulled up an image of Mozart in the Procreate reference window and sketched with that image in mind.” 

Even though it takes her two to three hours to create an illustration, she says that “there is a big sense of achievement that comes with seeing my illustrations on the official copy of the Spirit once they get printed.” As she gets to explore her artistic style while working as an illustrator, she hopes to capture the writer’s intentions, but also explicitly portray her identity as an illustrator. She adds, “Making art that captures the writer’s intentions is important, but developing as an artist while creating art that I’m satisfied with is equally as important.”

Thank you to all of our illustrators and photographers for their hard work and dedication! We can’t wait to be inspired by your future masterpieces :)Behind the Scenes of The Spirit