Zowiie makes it snappy

By Bridget Cook
DANDENONG High School student Zowiie Guillemain snapped up the highest photography award at the Berwick Show last week.
The Year 11 student beat more than 500 entrants to take out the Best in Show title with a portrait photograph of her cousin holding a guitar.
Zowiie said her photo depicted the rough time her cousin was going through at the time the photo was taken.
“The photo represented a girl leaving her past behind her and starting a new direction,” she said.
“She was holding a guitar which showed her love of music and how she used it as a way of moving forward.”
Zowiie took the shot as part of a portrait assignment for school. Dandenong High School Photography and Media Studies teacher Yvonne Ellins entered the photo at the last minute while Zowiie was on holidays.
“It was a great surprise to find out I had won,” she said.
“I felt very proud of myself for doing a really good job and actually win doing something I love.”
Ms Ellins said Zowiie beat professional photographers in the competition.
“The judges were astounded it was a student who had won … they had no idea she was a 16-year-old,” Ms Ellins said.
She believes Zowiie has a bright future in the photography industry.
“She has the eye,” she said.
“It’s a gift that one in 100 people have … to see things through a camera and understand she can tell a story by taking an image.
“That’s a pretty special gift to be born with. I have no doubt in my mind that with her positive attitude, she’ll go far.”
Zowiie was not the only Dandenong High School student to walk away with a prize. Meagan Lees won first prize in the water photography open section, and Anish John took home second place and Rachel Hallwall received third place in the portrait category.