Sam McIntosh, Capturing Moments of Being With a Camera and Some Film

A bouquet of wilted flowers, tossed into the sky. An American flag waving wildly before a church. The hand of a ceramic doll behind a dusty window. These are just several of the hundreds of moments that senior Sam McIntosh has captured with his camera.

McIntosh first became interested in photography as a nine-year-old when his grandmother gave him a camera for Christmas. He immediately began playing around with the camera, taking pictures of his dog, his family, and sites around New York City. McIntosh’s hobby soon developed into a passion. He started spending his weekends traveling around the city taking photographs of everything he observed. 

McIntosh brought his interests to the classroom, too. He took Photography I in ninth grade, Photography II in tenth, and is now developing his own film photographs through his joint independent study, “Explorations in Film Photography.” Photography teacher and school videographer Mr. Brian Mihok, who taught Sam in Photography II and is currently teaching his independent study, said that “Sam’s craft has gotten tighter, and his ability to fine-tune what he’s looking for in a photograph has improved significantly over these past two years.” Mr. Mihok has loved watching McIntosh’s technique grow and is excited for what the future holds for Sam. 

McIntosh often finds inspiration in the photographs of William Eggleston, Robert Frank, and Stephen Shore. Specifically, he admires their shared ability to take photos of non-obvious subjects, such as a sidewalk crack or an unlaced sneaker. According to McIntosh, these photographers “managed to take photographs that are, looking back, clearly unique to their era, but stand the test of time and are still fascinating to look at.” McIntosh takes after these famous photographers by attempting to photograph non-obvious subjects, such as shadows and perspectives, and playing to the strengths of his own observational details. “William Eggleston had this concept of ‘democratic photography,’ which means taking pictures of even the most boring subjects in interesting ways, and that resonates a lot with me,” McIntosh said.

McIntosh hopes to continue with photography in college, but he is not sure specifically what this will look like. Mr. Mihok believes that Sam’s “photographer’s eye” will somehow play a role in his future career: “Whether he is a photographer or not, his photography skills will surely come into play.”

This past summer, McIntosh traveled to County Wexford, Ireland to join Cow Studios for a summer art program, during which he focused specifically on film photography. Working with a film camera, which does not allow you to see your photographs until they are developed, taught McIntosh to have “greater intentionality in [his photographs].” In Ireland, McIntosh worked in the darkroom for hours at a time developing his own photographs, which, McIntosh said, “is just a lot of fun.” 

One of McIntosh’s classmates, senior Estelle Anderson, has been in photography class with McIntosh for the past three years and has enjoyed watching his photographic skills develop. Anderson said that “Sam has never brought anything less than high-quality work to class” and commended him for his unique style. Anderson says that her favorite of McIntosh’s photographs is one where he used a “slow shutter speed to capture the headlights of cars,” explaining that “it almost looks like a Jackson Pollock painting.” 

Whatever path McIntosh ends up taking after Riverdale, he is sure that his camera will remain right by his side.