Gabriel Baah ’26 hadn’t dabbled much in photography until taking one of GFS photo teacher Michael Koehler’s classes in the fall of 2024. Not long into the class, Baah became very interested in the subject, not just as an art form, but as a potential career path. When it came time to choose his Junior Project, Baah decided to pursue this budding passion through an internship. 

“Through that class, I began to fall in love with photography,” Baah said. “I really wanted to dive deeper in, and see where it could lead.”

He got connected with Christopher Petersen, the founder and owner of Younger Brother Pictures, LLC, an independent video production company based outside of Philadelphia. Over the past decade, Younger Brother Pictures has produced narrative films, documentaries, commercial work, photography, and more. 

Petersen, a self-described “one man band” had never had an intern before, and he enjoyed giving Baah a crash course in independent film and video production. 

“It was interesting to see how much information can be condensed with photography, filmmaking, and videography, because instead of a year's long process, the learning curve is shortened to a month,” Petersen said. 

Over the course of Baah’s Junior Project, Petersen showed him how to use different kinds of cameras, lighting rigs, sound set-ups, and editing software. He also laid out the pros and cons of owning a small production company versus working for a bigger commercial outfit.  

“In one of my first conversations with Gabriel, I explained that instead of having a hyper specialized position within the filmmaking world, I have to handle everything. I have to market myself, answer emails, send invoices, and do pre-production, production, and post-production,” he said. “But—I get to have more creative and artistic freedom.”

Baah was able to accompany Petersen on a few shoots, including an athletics media day at La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, PA, and a wrestling match at Spring-Ford Area High School in Royersford. One of Baah’s sub-interests is sports photography, and Petersen hoped these would be illuminating experiences for him. Baah reported that he had fun using Petersen’s Sony α7 IV, a serious level-up from the camera he’d been using. He also said that while sports photography is still his “number one,” that the internship exposed him to other avenues that were of interest, as well. 

“I really want to meet more people and try new things, too,” he said. “I don't want to be limited to one thing in the photography world.”

Another part of Baah’s project was setting up a two-camera documentary-style interview shoot to film himself talking about his Junior Project experience. He used the footage in his Junior Project presentation, which all GFS juniors give to their teachers and classmates upon their return to campus in February.

The shoot, which was in a large, open jiu jitsu studio space (which Petersen also manages), was the culmination of the knowledge Baah gained about how to properly light and frame a subject, as well as his technical skills with video and audio gear. As he moved about the area, making small adjustments to the camera’s frame and microphone stands, his confidence and fluency with the equipment was on full display. 

“I have really made strides during this month of January,” he said, right before sitting down to become the interview subject, perfectly lit on his own set.