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Students take yearbook photos right in the classroom

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Although her school years have passed nearly 20 years ago, looking back at old photos taken with friends and teachers, Ms. Tran Thi Phuong in Nam Sach district is still moved and emotional. Every time there is a class reunion, friends bring out those photos together to look at.

In the past, on the last day of school, the whole class stood in front of the school yard and hired a photographer to take some group photos. The costumes were just simple white shirts and dark pants... Later, when technology developed, the quality of yearbook photos was also invested in. To take yearbook photos, students had to come up with ideas, agree on style, location, means, costumes... In addition to the classroom setting, students also took outdoor photos to have the most beautiful photos to preserve memories with friends.

Most 12th grade classes organize yearbook photos in bachelor gowns.

To have a set of photos for the class's yearbook last March, Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh, class monitor of class 12G, Kim Thanh High School, hired 3 photographers from Hanoi to take photos for the class in one day. Each student will spend 350,000 VND for a yearbook photo package including ao dai for women, vest for men and bachelor's gown. In addition, female students with more elaborate makeup will have additional costs and accessories. Therefore, some students spent nearly 1 million VND for a set of photos for the final yearbook. When receiving beautiful photos, they think such an investment is worth it.

With the spirit of solidarity and enthusiastic support from teachers and parents in the class, all members of class 12G participated in this photo shoot. Phuong Anh shared: “I wrote a very long message to encourage everyone to take the photo shoot. Because turning 18 only comes once in a lifetime, we took the photo to preserve the moments together. Later, when we have a class reunion, we will take out the group photo to check who is missing.”

Not only taking pictures with friends and teachers, Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh (Kim Thanh High School) also took pictures with her father.

Nowadays, yearbook photos are not only to preserve moments with teachers, friends and school, many students also bring their whole family to take photos because this is a support for them on their learning journey. In Phuong Anh's class, there are students who come with their parents and siblings to take photos. As for her, her father came to take photos with her. "My father was very excited to come to his daughter's yearbook photo session because this is an important milestone in her student life," Phuong Anh said.

Creative

The gratitude event series for senior students is an annual activity at Nguyen Trai High School for the Gifted. This year's gratitude event series includes a simple yearbook photo shoot for all 12th grade students. The theme of the yearbook photo shoot is "Unfading Impressions". With this style of photography, students only need a simple background design, and they will wear their usual school uniforms, carrying accessories that bear their mark such as report cards, certificates, favorite toys, etc. Below the photo are quotes from each student, reflecting their high school years. Unlike the carefully invested yearbook photo shoots of each class, this photo shoot is consistent across the entire grade, demonstrating a spirit of solidarity.

Simple, creative but expressing individual personality is the unique feature in the photo series "Unfading Impression" by Nguyen Trung Thanh.

Nguyen Trung Thanh, a 12th grade student in France, brought to the yearbook photo session many certificates, awards, medals, etc., which are the achievements he has achieved in 3 years of studying. Trung said: "This yearbook photo album is like a way to define myself during my high school years, so that later I can look back and see what I was like back then, for example, a good student, a bookworm, a sports lover, or a lover of the arts."

According to Mr. Cao Duc Manh, the person who took the photo series “Unfading Impressions”, this is a rather new idea in Hai Duong, simple but still expressing each person’s individual personality. With 6 years of experience in the profession, he said that this is the peak period of the graduation season.

“The upcoming April 30 holiday, close to graduation time, students have a long holiday, the studio has 5-6 classes registered for photoshoots on the same day. Therefore, the studio operation team will have to work continuously to ensure the most thoughtful photoshoot for students. A photographer during the graduation season earns up to 20 million VND/month,” said Mr. Manh.

Many students invest carefully in clothes, accessories, hairstyles...

Nowadays, with the strong development of social networks, many ideas for taking offensive photos have appeared, large investments leading to waste of money such as going to more exotic locations, dressing more uniquely... To have a beautiful yearbook photo, many students have gone to rivers, lakes, mountains, places where accidents are likely to happen. To avoid unfortunate incidents, high schools in the province have directed, analyzed, and reminded students to take yearbook photos not to waste too much money, take them in dangerous places, too far from school. Many schools also require classes to clearly report the time, location, budget... for the school to review before organizing yearbook photos. The most important task for students now is to focus on reviewing and preparing for the upcoming graduation exam.

LINH LINH