When I asked Daniel Agpuon, a senior at Helix Charter High School, whether capturing the moment or the moment itself was more important, Agpuon responded, “I feel like capturing the moment is more important because that means you have something to reflect on.” His creative process is very quick.“If I think I will want to reminisce about a certain moment, I will take a photo.” He explains, “It’s 50/50 really. If it’s a scenic photo I want to take as many of as those as possible,” I ask if he has ever thought of making a scrapbook or a portfolio of some sort. “Honestly no,” he laughs. “I’m very old school and prefer to keep my images on a drive I can carry around” he goes on saying that he might consider making a portfolio now that I suggested it.
When I asked him what the main focus was of the photo he took, he told me that, “The main focus was that it was for an assignment, so in a way there is no meaning” he replied.
Agpuon is passionate about environmental science which is reflected in his photos. They often depict a scenic landscape of the beach or mountains. He describes his dream project is in Hokkaido, Japan. “It’s fantastic to take pictures there, it’s mountainous and beautiful, especially in the winter.”
I asked who got him interested in the environment. “Before AP environmental science… I was already conscious of the environment, when we pulled out of the Paris climate accords during Trump’s administration I found myself motivated to make a change.” Agpuon pauses, continuing to say that Mr. Myron, who teaches AP environmental science, pushed him to have environment as a “forefront in his future.” He tells me that he wants to dedicate his life to becoming an environmental scientist and be involved in research.
Do you think your images will have an impact on the environment?
“No. I feel like photography is a passion project to me, it’s really just a thing on the side to me.”
Agpuon believes that art doesn’t necessarily have to be shown to a wide audience to be perceived as important, the art of capturing a moment to reminisce on is very predominant in his life.
