About Tanya Wilcox

This year's first place winner in the Youth 16 and Under category also came away with second place. The time and energy Tanya Wilcox, a 17-year-old Palo Alto High School junior, put into "7 Years Bad Luck" ended up paying off.

Click on photo for larger image.

The photo is called a contact-sheet mosaic, and Tanya first learned of the technique in a photography class at Paly. The mosaic image she saw in a course book was of a building - the photographer had taken multiple pictures of a building and pieced the negatives together on a contact sheet. Because Tanya is more interested in people than buildings, she decided to photograph a friend's friend for her piece.

"Those are easier to print, but harder to take," she said of contact-sheet mosaics.

Besides snapping into photographer mode when she's visiting her sister at New York University, Tanya enjoys shooting portraits. She doesn't have a preference for who she photographs and says she isn't necessarily inspired by a person's personality. It's more like: If you're around, she'll take your photo.

When she's not in Paly's dark room developing photos, she's likely somewhere near a pool. Tanya swims and plays water polo for Paly.