Arun Padykula, 15, received First Place in the Teen Photo Contest held at Memorial Hall Library.

The rising sophomore at Andover High School is the son of Tara Masih, Andover and Robert Padykula, Haverhill.

Patrons of the library were given the opportunity to vote on the nine entries from August 8-18. The winner received a certificate and a gift card to the Andover Book Store. All contest participants were students in grades 6-12.

The blue ribbon photo was taken during Padykula's recent trip to Italy. and shows one of the Cinque Terre inlets on the Ligurian Sea. Padykula said he took hundreds of photos during the family vacation with his stepfather's Canon SLR camera.

Padykula said he is happy about winning first place and plans to enter future photo contests. 

His interest in photography comes from his grandfather who was a professional photographer. His mother said that his late grandfather "would have been very proud of him."

This was not the first time Padykula won an award for his photos. He placed in a library-wide photo contest two years ago. 

In addition to photography, Padykula enjoys drawing and painting, and said he plans to pusue a profession in the design field. Inheriting his talent from both sides of the family, he said his other grandfather was an artist.

According to Masih, her son has always shown a strong interest in art and had attended classes at the Johnson School of Art, North Andover, for many years. 

Padykula takes art courses at the high school and was awarded a studio arts award in the spring. In addition to his artistic pursuits, he enjoys sports and is on the tennis and golf teams at the high school.