Carrillo’s underground photographer, Quinn Stahl

Quinn Stahl taking a photo (Alana Moscoso-Mendoza / The Puma Prensa)

By Alana Moscoso-Mendoza, Opinion Editor

What does it take to be remembered?

That’s a loaded, complicated question, and a lot of factors must be taken into consideration in order to properly come to a conclusion: who’s being remembered? Who’s remembering? In what fashion?

But for Quinn Stahl, the answer is simple: photos.

Whether it be dance shows, band concerts, or musicals, Stahl is likely sneaking across the walkways of the theater, utilizing the shadowy landscape to photograph the performers on stage. And as a result—which is Stahl’s reason for doing what he does—said performers get permanent keepsakes of themselves doing what they love most.

Stahl is a senior at Maria Carrillo, and one of his favorite hobbies, which should come as no surprise, is photography, which he’s had a lifelong passion for. He expresses that this passion stemmed from his mom, who photographed just about “everyday of [his] life” as he was growing up. As for how he got consistent photography practice, he began about 5 years ago, which has now stemmed into his primary extracurricular activity.

Furthermore, Stahl takes, or has taken, photos of  almost every school event related to the arts. He works in close collaboration with Elia Yen, Rosemarie Henry, and more in order to capture photographs of numerous school events. While that seems like an overwhelming task, he finds it easy to pick which events he wants to photograph. 

“I choose events based on what I enjoy capturing, which is people,” he said. “I've been testing the waters with different types of shows at Carrillo and doing photoshoots for my friends, like senior casuals, homecoming, and prom to find what I'm best at, but in all honesty I go based on what makes me happy.” 

“When I first really got into photography, I was using a Canon EOS Rebel T6. That was the camera I used for the majority of my time as a photographer—it was a Christmas gift from my dad,” Stahl said when asked about the equipment he uses. “Now I shoot with a Nikon Z8 body and my previous Canon lenses. I'm incredibly lucky to have the resources that I do, a lot of high-end equipment can be upwards of thousands of dollars.” 

However, he makes sure to note that photography does not need to start with high-end, bank-breaking equipment. Using whatever is available to you, such as your phone’s camera, for instance, can help you get into the hobby easily and quickly. “You can get great photos with any camera,” Stahl said, “especially if you’re familiar with photo composition.” 

Furthermore, a phone camera’s simplicity can help with learning the fundamentals of photography. While many phone cameras do come with customizable settings that are very confusing to the average person, their baseline camera function is very useful for the basics of photography. In addition, these foundational skills learned through phone photography will prove very useful should a photographer upgrade to an ever-complicated camera with functions they’d likely never heard of in the first place.

The reason as to why a person participates in a hobby varies from person to person, but for many people, their reason is that it is simply fun. But for Stahl, his reason is something outside of himself: “I want more people to know that my goal is to make memories for people, and to make them feel seen,” Stahl answered. 

A photograph is a permanent keepsake of a specific moment in time. They are hand-picked fragments of a memory, a single frame of an event that was worth photographing. For Stahl, he wants his photographs to convey that the moment they capture is worth some sort of permanence in this world.

Stahl first discovered this feeling with his mom. “Having the photos my mom took of me growing up has made me feel less alone. It reminds me that other people do care, at least enough to want to have a permanent keepsake of me, and I want to pass that feeling onto everyone that I can.” Above everything, Stahl’s work acts as preservations of people’s passions that would otherwise be lost to time. 

He now finds many uses with his photography skill, more specifically in that it allows him to communicate with others much more effectively. “I used to be a really shy kid growing up, but ever since I've started doing photos for school events and going to advocacies for senior signoffs, I've become more comfortable meeting new people and talking to crowds of people,” said Stahl.

He’s found much purpose in his photography skill, having practiced it all throughout high school both professionally and casually. He finds it to be one of his favorite hobbies, and furthermore, plans to practice it professionally after high school. “I plan on pursuing photography after high school as a career. It's one of my biggest passions and I'd love to make it something bigger in my life.” Stahl plans on attending SRJC after high school.

Whether it be Carrillo’s stage or a close friend’s home, Stahl is taking photos. And soon enough, he’ll move to even bigger stages and events. No matter what changes or comes after the class of 2026, Stahl’s photos will be used and remembered for years to come.