For about sixteen years of my life, I’ve spent my mornings waking up in Somerset, Massachusetts. I’ve walked the halls of three different Somerset Public Schools, spent countless hours volunteering in Somerset, and yet I never knew about the complex history of the town. It wasn’t until senior year that the history of the town had ever been brought up as a topic in school. Soon, I was involved in the Envisioning Somerset project, photographing the historical spots and buildings, illustrating the history and beauty of a town rooted in New England culture. One of my favorite things to photograph for this project were the headstones of past prominent figures from Somerset. The Slade family, the Bowers family, and my favorite, Patience Brayton were just some of the names we heard about as we learned and photographed. Throughout the experience, we were taught about the different industries Somerset is known for, like the railroad, pottery, and shipping. Although the history of Somerset captured my attention and was incredible to photograph, I also enjoyed capturing the essence of Somerset today, most importantly the town’s people. The students at Somerset Berkley Regional High School are the present and the future of the town. I wanted to capture this through portraits of these students. Henceforth came my series Teenagers of Somerset. In this series, I took candid portraits of those around me on the field trip and turned them all black and white. Each photo I chose for my series had clear emotion and embodied the spirit of the teenagers I’ve been growing up with here in Somerset. The Envisioning Somerset project allowed me to capture both the history and the future of the town, bringing attention to these two things. Through photography, one can do communicate the past and the present. I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to capture the beauty and history of Somerset, a town I have lived in all my life and will always remember.