Isabella Puccinelli Revisits Impactful Project with Photography Students
Aaron Case
As Commencement rapidly approaches, students in Sarah MacWright’s Honors Photography class are gearing up for their final project. Titled “Art for Good,” the project requires the young photographers to create work that positively impacts their community. To spark the creative process, Ms. MacWright invited her former student, Isabella Puccinelli ’19, to discuss her Culminating Experience for Seniors (CES) project with the class via video call.
After graduating from Millbrook, Isabella studied political science, economics, and criminal justice at Elon University. She now works at an investment management firm in New York City. Her VIth form project—a book of portraits of each 2019 IIIrd former—is a perfect example of what Ms. MacWright is asking her students to do this year. Both deeply personal and broadly impactful, the book of portraits and facts about the ninth-grade subjects helped Isabella process her pending graduation and served as a meaningful parting gift to Millbrook.
“When I was graduating, I had the hardest time coming to terms with the fact that I was going to be leaving Millbrook,” she told the class. “… I really wanted to give back to my community that had given me so much and find a way to be involved, even though I wasn't there, and I wanted to know what Millbrook was going to be like after I left.”
After giving it some thought, she realized that the IIIrd form was the key. “If I really wanted to understand Millbrook and the community and what the future of the school might look like, it needed to start with getting to know the IIIrd form.”
So, Isabella decided to create a book of portraits of each IIIrd former. It was a massive undertaking, as she had to set up sessions with around 40 students and get each of them to open up to her. She learned how to help the younger students relax, allowing them to come to photoshoots in friend groups and starting interviews with light questions like “What’s your favorite color” to pave the way toward capturing their deeper essence. “I really wanted this book to be a picture of each individual and to represent how they would define themselves,” she noted.
Once the sessions were complete, the work was far from over. Isabella had to go through hundreds of photos and hours of interviews to find the shots and details that perfectly captured her subjects. She also worked hard to lay out the book and choose the right color for each student. “Color was a really big part of this process,” she explained. “It's something I've always been drawn to, and I love to focus my projects around color. Also, color is such a big display of someone's emotions and their personal brand. Being able to incorporate that to highlight who each person was complemented the output of the book really well.”
The painstaking work paid off in full. The IIIrd formers cherished their books, and the project lives on as a resource Millbrook uses to prepare students for lives of meaning and consequence. “Isabella created a powerful tool of reflection for students,” said Eve Whitehouse, the IIIrd form dean in 2019. “The book served as a type of artifact for students from that class. They looked at it over and over in my office when they passed through. They often talked about their ninth-grade year, reminisced about their growth, remembered students who moved on, etc. I was also able to use it when advising students or talking to them about accountability.”
Isabella’s project also accomplished her goal of connecting with the future of Millbrook. And when she called into Honors Photography, the future she found held the same sense of community she had experienced and fostered. “I found it to be such a full-circle moment to be invited to speak with Ms. MacWright’s Honors Photo class,” she said. “Having the opportunity to connect with the students who make up the Millbrook community today felt like the realization of that original intention. I have always thought of Millbrook students as a genuine and engaged group of people, and the Honors Photo class reflected that perfectly. The students asked thoughtful questions and shared their own experiences working with members of the Millbrook community through their photography. The discussion felt like the kind of conversation I would have had with my classmates in photography classes at Millbrook, which is a testament to what makes the community so special.”
Projects like these, whether for CES, Independent Science Research, or even a routine assignment for any class, are what sets Millbrook apart. Thanks to the dedication of talented and passionate faculty, our students receive endless opportunities to create and lead.
The Millbrook experience shapes students, but the converse is equally true—and Isabella’s photo book is incontrovertible evidence.
“I never imagined I would still be speaking about the project six years later,” she said. “It means a great deal to know that the work continues to resonate within the Millbrook community and that it can serve as a point of reflection for other students as they consider how they hope to make an impact at Millbrook.”
