From a Dispo Lens: A Prom Photojournal

Photo Credit: Isabella Quintero

By: Isabella Quintero

There are many life-altering, monumental events during your senior year of high school, or at least that’s how it is in the movies. Prom is typically the one that takes the cake for most seniors, serving as the end of year party solidifying your impending adulthood. 

From forming your group to planning your dates, school dances can be very stressful, even to the point of taking away from the fun and beauty of the whole night. I know that I’ve experienced that one too many times, but I’m determined to focus on the good of my last high school dance, and to highlight the good in others’ nights as well. 

So, in light of our impending doom, or graduation as we call it, I decided to document the entire day of prom from different points of view, all from my personal favorite source: disposable cameras.

I gave a few people I knew were attending prom a disposable camera, bedazzled it, and made sure to get it back full of pictures encapsulating their whole prom night. So, thank you to Charly Baranski, Kayli Quiroz, Riley Sharp, Xiomara Santos, and Emma Travers for taking me along on their prom nights so that we can all experience these perspectives.

MORNING:

The morning of prom is typically full of getting your hair done, doing your makeup, picking up your flowers, and making sure your dress is just right.

Kayli Quiroz getting her hair done the morning of Prom, showing off her gorgeous updo.

My flower bouquet with a personalized touch on the ribbon to remember the night.

AFTERNOON/EVENING:

In the afternoon-evening, most prom groups get together to take pictures and eat dinner before going to the dance.

Sayde Slagle, Madeline McReynolds, and Katie Howell outside of Mondos where they ate before heading to prom.

Emma Travers with her date Tyler Coffman at Asbury church where they took pictures.

PROM:

After going through the stress of getting ready, getting to dinner reservations on time, and taking the perfect “instagramable” pictures, everyone heads to the dance and all of that before was worth it.

Prom King and Queen Tej Beniwal and Marnie Lee very excitedly take their crowns as the senior class cheers them on.

Marnie Lee dancing on stage as Tej Beniwal shoots the prom king and queen foam gun.

Marnie Lee posing as her friends capture this special moment of her being Prom Queen.

POST-PROM: 

Charly Baranski, as well as most of her prom group, made a very necessary pit stop to Taco Bell after prom, where they found a line of cars also coming from the party.

Experiencing Prom 2026 myself was so much fun, but after getting to see how much fun some of the rest of the senior class had this night made that experience even better. With the stress and planning of everything leading up to prom, the release of all of that stress in the singing and dancing with your friends is truly such a highlight to the end of senior year. This will always be a core memory for me, and after seeing other people’s documentation of their nights, I hope that everyone else had as much fun as I did.