WVCSD Artist of the Week: Brooke Squillante

Warwick Valley High School sophomore Brooke Squillante is an award-winning photographer. She remembers how her photo-savvy aunt would position her and other relatives for family photos on holidays and special occasions, and shared that it was her aunt’s creative process, and the pictures that would come of it, that first piqued her interest in the art form.

“I’d always watch her; I was just really interested in it,” said Squillante. “It was about five years ago that I ended up getting my first DSLR camera for Christmas. It was the same as [my aunt’s], because I wanted to do the exact same thing she was doing. And, over the years, I’ve just been gaining more interest in it.”

In February, Squillante won a Gold Key Award in photography at the regional 2024 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, hosted by the arts department at SUNY New Paltz. Her winning piece, “Green Gecko,” represents one of Brooke’s favorite photographic subjects, animals. Brooke said she started taking pictures of her cats right away when she received that first camera.

“I loved getting up and close, trying to capture the look in their eyes,” she explained. When she received her first zoom lens two Christmases after getting her first camera, her interest in nature photography really took off!

“The lens was a 70-200 mm! That was fun. It helped me with a lot of my photos,” said Squillante. “I started going out and following bald eagles around where they live; I’ve been doing that for a while. It’s really inspiring.”

Living near Greenwood Lake, she said, has been a benefit when it comes to exploring habitats and finding subjects. Some of her favorite moments to capture are birds in mid-motion flight.

“I’ll go down by the lake and there might be some mallards, some swans occasionally, or I’ll catch smaller birds sitting at the edge of the trees. I try to capture as many different species as I can,” said Squillante with a laugh. “I’ve spent way too many hours watching birds, just sitting there waiting for them to come around.”

As for that award-winning photo, art teacher Anna Penny helped Squillante choose “Green Gecko” for the competition from a selection of her own personal favorites.

“In my opinion,” said Penny, “all of Brooke’s photos are worthy of winning awards. She is exceptionally skilled, and anyone who takes a look at her personal work and school projects, they’re as impressed as I am.”

Squillante said that at first she was shocked to find out she’d won the Gold Key Award from Scholastic, but that she is proud of her accomplishment.

“I didn’t really expect to win,” she said. “It was definitely a surprise. It felt even bigger when I got to the ceremony and got up on stage to receive the award.”

Brooke took digital photography 1 with Penny earlier this year, and even though she’s not currently enrolled in a photography class, still spends as much time as she can in Penny’s room during the week, discussing and exploring photography. Having recently upgraded her camera set-up, Squillante is as motivated as ever to continue working on her craft, including looking forward to digital photography 2 next year.

Does Squillante have any advice for young students and photographers?

“You’ve just got to keep trying. Try everything when you can; everything you can think of,” said Squillante. “It might take a little time, but you’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure out what you like and what you enjoy.”