By Sarah Yoo
Kim Ly shoots! She scores! And the crowd goes wild! Rather than a goal, however, Ly has scored that beautiful suspended moment in a game with her camera: when time slows down and the audience holds their breath, furiously telecommunicating a will of hope for the floating ball to go in. In that brief moment, Ly’s work shines its brightest. Quite literally.
It’s no wonder Ly joined Baron Banner as soon as she was introduced. A talented photographer, illustrator and writer—that is the Baron Banner senior Photo Manager and Sports Editor Kim Ly (mostly the photography part). Although with just one look at her art and written works, it’s impossible to miss her all-around artistic eye.
“I like the satisfaction and adrenaline of it. I really like it when you take a good photo and you see it, and you’re like, ‘Okay, I did that,’” Ly said.
Ly’s journey in photojournalism began with simple origins: taking pictures in yearbook for friends and a desire to document memories. Now, she continues to take pictures of her daily life, but she has also sprouted an interest for another subject: sports photography, especially basketball. On the sidelines, she enjoys watching the team grow to become stars on the court, and we can see her own progress running parallel to those top players.
“That’s the thrill of sports photography. You never really know if you’re going to get the shot,” she said.
Dynamic, emotional and gripping, the competitive sports environment was built for Kim Ly.
Not only is Ly accomplished with photojournalism, she is also the publicist of National Technical Honors Society and participates in Virtual Enterprise, both of which present exciting opportunities for her this year.
Ly’s interest in history, the arts and journalism may land her in a future career as a teacher. Her experience as a teacher’s assistant in Ms. Seals’ Photo 1 class will most definitely help her achieve this goal.
Outside of school, Ly works at a local cafe and serves drinks. While this will be her first time managing work and school, Ly is clearly dedicated to her tasks and has a bright path ahead of her.
“The people around me—my friends, family, classmates—motivate me,” Ly said. “I really like the photos you see in history class…like I want to be in a textbook one day.”
Even with all of Kim Ly’s interests and accomplishments, she remains grounded and humble with her lifelong plans.
“Hopefully in 10 years, I’ll have a nice apartment, not be broke, maybe have a nice stable career, you know. I’m not trying to get rich, I just want a stable career [and to] live my life as an average person,” she said.
Despite all her involvement at school and the community, Ly profoundly appreciates her alone time. Staying at home jamming to music from genres varying from hip-hop to R&B, living her best life on her heavily Poke-based diet, consuming cheesy dramas—or just about anything that piques her interest—all sound like her ideal getaway for the weekend.