For those that are invested into the Sanger High sports community, you may know him as @advsportsphotos on Instagram, the rest known him as Ryan Viau. Viau is a junior who owns a sports photography page of all Sanger High sports.. From football, volleyball, waterpolo, soccer, tennis, track, he does it all. Originally a sports photography page between Viau and Kris Ksam, a former Sanger High student, has now become Viau’s full creative control.
“Something that inspired me to be a photographer is how interesting and cool the photos can be and to just say ‘I took that photo.’ Krishna Sam and I started our sports page on February 11. Kris and I were friends in class and we both loved taking sport’s pictures so we decided to start a sports page on Instagram” says Viau. Viau originally collaborated with Kris in starting a sports photography page, and as the 2022-2023 school year came to an end, Kris graduated from Sanger High as the page was now left in the hands of Viau.
With the start of the new school year, Viau has consistently grown into a staple in Sanger High sports, becoming a fan favorite,extremely well known with student athletes, capturing key moments, and telling a story on sports through a lens.
“Some good moments you have are when an athlete reposts one of your pictures in their own page or if you see your picture around campus somewhere”, says Viau.
Aside from student athletes, Viau has built great connections with administrators and teachers from Sanger High such as Mr. Penner, Mrs. Jolly, Mrs. Pearson, and many others. Viau’s growth has helped develop and solidify his placement here at Sanger High School with a well respected reputation as a sports photographer. With wider connections, you can enter yourself into higher tiers of sports organizations and other opportunities of photography.
“Some people on campus that could help you with photography is Mrs. Pearson, she is the photography teacher. If you start taking photos you get to meet other photographers and they usually can give you some advice on your work,” says Viau.
Viau is always on the lookout for more. He continues his growth with great consistency and at a young age for when he started, the future is as bright as can be for Viau. Being only a junior, Viau can bring his sports photography skills to an ever higher level for his senior year. He’s helped himself create a strong love for photography and plans to continue on pursuing sports photography in his future years post high school.
“The biggest take away is that if you’re a photographer you will always be hard on yourself. Even if your photos are great you will still be able to point out every little mistake you made and that no one else will see, so believe in your photo to know that it is good. After high school I want to practice more with photography and keep growing my sports page,” says Viau.
A self established photographer in his junior year of high school, Viau has accomplished so much and continues to seek for more opportunities to bring his skills to the next level.
