Terms of Use｜Privacy Center
© 2023 College Board | PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
2-D Design
Bennett Marter
Ida B. Wells High School｜Portland, Oregon
Mt Hood｜11.7 x 9.5 in.
Idea(s): Capturing the movement in the clouds on Mt Hood - Edited in Photoshop
Material(s): digital camera -photoshop - Matted on two inch matte
Process(es): Captured twenty feet beneath the summit of Mt. Hood, Oregons tallest peak.
Curatorial Note: A surreal sense of place
“I wanted to create a portfolio that showed my love for mountaineering as well as sharing the process of climbing Mt hood. For my investigation I had an overall theme of Mt. Hood itself and capturing the beauty of the mountain year around. Mountaineering Is a big part of my life and I have been climbing Mt. Hood for four years and reaching the summit five different times. The landscape that I see while climbing is extremely photogenic and I wanted to share images of the mountain and the process with others.”
Student statement
Student
statement
This image comes from my investigation focused on Mt Hood, an 11,249 ft tall mountain in the Oregon Cascade Mountain Range. I decided to focus on Mt Hood because I have been climbing it for the past three years and I wanted to share images from my climbs with the people around me. When most people from Portland, my hometown, look at Mt Hood they only see a mountain that dominates the horizon when they look out to the east but I wanted to share images that show just how beautiful it is when you are climbing.
My investigation included images of Mt Hood during different seasons, but winter is always my favorite time to climb. This image looks south from the top of the main crux on the primary climbing route that snakes up the south side of the mountain, during the last few weeks of the winter climbing season. While my work is not inspired by a historical style or tradition, I have recently been inspired by adventure photographers such as Jimmy Chin and Bjarne Salen and how they create images that inspire people to experience the outdoors.
Bennett Marter
Teacher Statement
Teacher Statement
Matthew Carlson
Bennet Marter has a deep and profound passion for nature and adventure. Bennet is a young man who explores and appreciates a variety of environments throughout our planet. He physically engages with the landscape and pushes himself to the limit; climbing, biking, and swimming while documenting this experience through the photographic artform.
Bennett Marter’s investigation theme this year was to document Mt. Hood; also known as Wyeast to the Native people of the Pacific Northwest. Mt. Hood is an hour east of Portland and a place that is visually iconic to the Pacific Northwest. This mountain has a special significance for Bennett and plays a crucial role in his family and personal history. The mountain also has aesthetic beauty and requires technical knowledge and experience to summit.
Bennett would visit the mountain every two to three weeks and bring back images of his adventures summiting the mountain, the change in seasons, and the flora and fauna to share with the class during critiques. As a class we were able to summit the mountain and live vicariously through Bennet's images. We experienced the seasons, beautiful sunsets and the raw power of the mountain. Bennett was able to bring us with him on his mountain adventures. That is the wonderful thing about the art of photography. It allows the viewer to see and experience what the photographer sees through the lens and those images help us all to see the beauty of our world from different perspectives.
Bennett has taught me to engage with the beautiful places on our planet and find inspiration in them. At the culmination of this year through the repetition of visiting a single sacred place over the course of a year Bennett was able to create a strong portrait of the mountain over time and a body of work that preserved the beauty and rawness of the mountain in a two dimensional form.
Principal Statement
Principal Statement
Filip Hristic
At Ida B. Wells High School in Portland, Oregon, students love to take art classes. Although we are proud to offer an impressive portfolio of courses in Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Printmaking, Photography and more, we know that it is not the varied programming that is enticing students to our art studios. I believe that it is our exceptional teaching staff that is making all the difference. All of our teachers are accomplished artists who take pride in their respective artistic ventures. Our teachers respect each other as colleagues, they collaborate closely as teaching partners, and they hold a shared mission to help students engage in exploration and expression through art. Most importantly, our teachers are genuinely curious about our students’ stories, interests, and aspirations.
I am so pleased to see that Bennett Marter is being recognized for his remarkable work. Bennett found a way to combine his love of photography with his love of mountaineering and outdoor adventuring. He is able to capture the unique beauty of places that very few are able to visit and experience. As such, Bennett’s work is nothing short of a gift.
Bennett Marter
