What happens when you combine tennis and photography? This is the question that I first asked myself when I started on this project, and I soon realized that you end up capturing the true movement of this sport. I chose to focus on tennis because I was curious to see how a sport with so much momentum would translate into still shots. Additionally, the art of photography has always had me in awe, and the ability to evoke so many emotions and create a memory capsule through a camera is a skill that is priceless. Being the person behind the camera completely changed my perspective of tennis itself, and allowed me to develop not just as a photographer but also a tennis player as well. It gave me the ability to view the angles of each shot and the placement of the ball on the court which I might not have thought of if I wasn’t thinking about how to position each shot in a photographer’s perspective. While you might not be able to hear the crack of the tennis ball as it whips through the air, the best photos allow you to imagine it and capture the power within each stroke. This year has also been described as “unconventional” and “unprecedented” which is something that I wanted to feature in my photos in how the sport perseveres through a pandemic. The masks in each photo add a special significance and commemoration that we can all look back on to remember how the West High tennis teams still put in the effort to play through such different times. The photo essay has been one of my favorite projects of the year and really pushed me to challenge myself in being creative and has really allowed me to learn more about the process of photography.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Jane Lam

MOTION STILLED Tennis rackets might just be the most important part of a game and are often described as the extension of a player’s arm. Freshman Mia Thompson’s racket lays deceptively still in sharp contrast to how it creates power in each shot during a game.