At WA, almost all students find something that they are passionate about. Whether it be a sport, club, or hobby, students find something they enjoy.

For senior Caroline Chaffiotte, she found her passion in photography. Most recently, she took home several Boston Globe Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Chaffiotte took home four Gold Key Awards, one Silver Key Award, as well as an honorable mention. She took home awards in the categories of photography and flash fiction (a brief, 200 word work of fiction).

Chaffiotte won the Gold Key Awards for her photo “Salvation in a Highway Motel”, a flash fiction piece entitled, “Terracotta”, another Gold Key for a photo called “Meeting of the Generations”, and one final Gold Key for a photo titled “Siblings”. She also earned a Silver Key for her photo called “Galaxies in a Puddle” and an honorable mention for a photo called “Nights.”

According to Chaffiotte, her process for taking these photos was not planned. She simply took the photos in the middle of everyday life.

“All of them were super random. […] It’s called street photography, so you just take random photos of whatever you want,” she said.

As for her inspiration, Chaffiotte says that she does not have really have one. Instead, if she sees something she wants to capture, she captures it.

“It’s very impulsive, the way that I [take. photos]. I will see a guy walking down the street and I’ll be like ‘He is very interesting looking’ and I’ll pick the camera up and I’ll shoot,” Chaffiotte said.

This year, Chaffiotte is in WA’s AP Photography class and according to her, her concentration is intimacy, so she aims to capture portrait photos. She says she wants to focus on relationships between people and wants to capture normal life.

Additionally, Chaffiotte has not been taking photography throughout all of her four years at WA. In fact, she says she got into photography by accident in her sophomore year. She wanted to submit to an art competition and ended up earning two honorable mentions. Chaffiotte then submitted the next year, and she earned a Silver Key Award.

“It just kind of happened by accident. […] It just kind of fell into place,” Chaffiotte said.

Chaffiotte’s AP Photography teacher Lisa Bolotte had high praise for her student, complimenting her photography skills and work ethic.

“Caroline a very thoughtful, considerate photographer who takes her work very seriously and is always searching for new material,” Bolotte said.

Finally, Bolotte had high praise for Chaffiotte’s willingness to search deep for her photos.

“She’ll go out into the world and explore and go to different cities and towns and put herself in different situations where she can find special moments,” she said.