Teen to be honored at Carnegie Hall for photos

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — This summer, a Tuscaloosa student will be recognized for his artistic achievement with a reception at Carnegie Hall.

Nicholas Patton, a senior at Paul W. Bryant High School, was recently recognized by the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for his photography, which he began through the school’s art department. He was selected as a gold medal recipient and will attend a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 8.

“I’m nervous, but I’m very excited for it,” Patton said. “I didn’t expect to get this much attention from it.”

Patton was recognized for his black-and-white photo, “Shyness,” which depicts a man with his hands to his face, standing at the end of a hallway. Patton said he achieved the look of the photo by shooting it in color, but turning down the contrast to have an absence of color.

“I just took it because I had some inspiration,” he said.

Natalie Roig-McKnight, Patton’s art teacher from last year, said he deserved all the attention he is getting now. The school has offered a photography class for a couple of years.

“One thing about photography and the arts is that it literally opened up his eyes, mind and soul,” Roig-McKnight said. “He was able to do work that would impact not just myself, but other kids in the class.”

More than 330,000 pieces of art and writing were submitted to this year’s contest and only 1 percent of those submitted were selected as national medalists.

Patton said he took up photography only a few years ago and plans to continue taking pictures next year at the University of Alabama, where he also plans to study computer science.

“It’s just really relaxing to me,” he said of his photography.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were founded in 1923 with famous alumni including Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Lena Dunham and more.

“Our wonder and amazement at the creative output of our country’s youth — and the dedication of our extraordinary educators — never ceases, and this year is no exception,” said Virginia McEnerney, executive director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit organization that presents the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. “The young people being recognized today for the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are to be celebrated for their creative and critical thinking, their bravery in telling their own stories on their own terms, and their inventiveness in recording and recreating their worlds. Watch closely, because among this 2,500 are members of the next generation of great American artists and writers.”

Patton was one of 14 students from Alabama to win a medal in the contest.

From June 2-12, more than 1,000 of the top Scholastic Art & Writing Awards visual and literary works will be on display at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design at The New School and Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York City.