In The Oracle’s 2024 photography workshop led by senior Anne Sullivan Beltran, Co-Images Editor for The Oracle, senior David Kozdoy was given his first assignment: the South versus Niles West Boys’ Varsity Basketball game. After his first sideline experience, Kozdoy reached out to Beltran for more opportunities to take photos around the school, he said.

Junior Adrian Bobrowski inspired Kozdoy to start his own photography career, he said. Now, Kozdoy has his own Instagram account dedicated to photography, @createdbydk, in order to build a foundation for his career, Kozdoy said.

“There are a lot of athletes at [South] who love having their picture taken,” Kozdoy said. “They want to show their friends and family, and post it to their Instagram accounts.”

Kozdoy enjoys shooting sports that do not draw in a large audience, like Boys’ Track and Field. Kozdoy often looks at tutorials on YouTube before track meets in order to be confident in getting the best angles and using the right lenses to capture high-speed events such as hurdles, he said.

“There are a lot of sports that don’t get as much appreciation as football and boys’ soccer,” Kozdoy said. “It’s fun to show [the student body] the work that goes into sports like [Boys’] Track and Field.”

Kozdoy’s favorite moments as a photographer are when he captures the excitement of the student body during games. His most notable experience was the South versus York varsity football game on Aug. 29. Though he was only able to photograph the first three quarters of the game, Kozdoy loved the results of the student section photos.

“After the [York] game, a lot of people came up to me to say, ‘Hey, I loved your photos,’’ Kozdoy said. “It was awesome getting to experience that.”