When senior Sophia Mills was little, she discovered her parents’ old digital camera and took her first photograph. She then visited Cuba in fourth grade and captured a photo of a man fishing at sunset. Angling her camera to create an illusion of the man “fishing the sun,” Sophia fell in love with the art of photography and has utilized it for creative expression ever since.

Entering SBHS as a freshman, Sophia eagerly joined the Multimedia Arts and Design (MAD) Academy to fine-tune her photography skills. 

“I love the creative freedom that MAD gives me,” said Sophia. “It’s great having all those resources at my disposal, especially in the MAD studio.”

Currently, Sophia is working on a photojournalism project for MAD’s “One in 8 Million” assignment, which is inspired by an award-winning series from the New York Times. The instructions are to document somebody’s life through 25 detailed and captivating images in combination with various forms of audio. Sophia’s project centers on San Marcos Growers, a local wholesale plant nursery established in 1979. The nursery impacts landscaping all over Santa Barbara, but will be closing in 2026 due to housing developments.

Hearing about San Marcos Growers’ closing, Sophia wanted to highlight the nursery and the integral community it has built. Her photojournalism project is a photomontage of San Marcos Growers layered with ambient sounds and audio from her interview with the nursery owner. Additionally, Sophia plans to reach an even wider audience by submitting her work to several news outlets.

When asked what draws her to photojournalism, Sophia responded, “It’s a really cool mechanism for visual storytelling. It’s one thing to capture someone on video, but it’s another task to tell a whole story in just one frame.”

Sophia’s photographic talent has not gone unrecognized. Last year, she was a Technical Excellence Finalist at the MAD Film Festival for a music video she produced, directed, and edited. She also won the 2024 Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Award Gold Key; for her submission, she captured a graceful frame of her classmate Mia Flick at Montecito’s Lotusland tying her ballet slippers. This February, Sophia will be showcasing her photographs at the 2025 Art Scholarship Reception from the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation.

Attending college next year, Sophia aims to continue her involvement with photography by joining related clubs and classes while majoring in political science.

“Just because I’m not majoring in photography doesn’t mean I should stop taking photos completely,” Sophia explained. “I’ve been doing this my whole life, and it’s important to me that I continue photography in whatever capacity I can.”

One of Sophia’s photographs of San Marcos Growers in action. [Image credit Sophia Mills]