Photojournalism Corps tours Iowa

September 11th, 2009 | By Rebecca Powell and Mandy Fassett | Section: Arts

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When Lucy Schiller ’09 returned to Grinnell from studying abroad in Denmark, she brought back a newfound passion for photojournalism. In Denmark, Schiller immersed herself in a photography class and found that the creation of photo essays and the pursuit of connections with her subjects inspired a new appreciation for picture taking.
When Schiller found that Lawrence Sumulong ’09, who works as the photo editor on the S&B, had a similar interest in photojournalism, she asked him if he’d be interested in forming a group on campus.
They had their first meeting at Schiller’s apartment on Main Street last Thursday evening. “I was really nervous, because I thought no one was going to show up,” Schiller said. “But I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of people that came and the amount of interest that was displayed.”
At the meeting, the two founders talked with the group of roughly ten students about their plans to create an “involved community” of photographers. The group brainstormed about various places in the Iowa community to begin their photo essays.
“At Grinnell there isn’t much of a framework set up for working with like-minded, photographically-minded people,” Schiller said. “There’s a dark room, but that’s more of a space to develop your own images rather than brainstorm with other people who want to pursue similar things.”
Schiller’s biggest interest lies in a long-term project documenting the community of Postville, Iowa. Postville was the location of the largest workplace immigration raid in Iowa history.
Others contributed ideas for Grinnell specific projects like the Friday Fest that took place in downtown Grinnell last Friday, and a tomato tasting at Heritage Farms on Sunday. Larger project ideas included a trip to CERA, Grinnell’s prairie research center and documentation of dwindling small farming towns and areas affected by the spring floods.
The group plans to meet once a week in smaller groups to review their work and do most of the larger shooting projects on the weekend. Group members have discussed the possibility of renting cameras from the AV center for those members without equipment so that everyone could participate. The group is hoping to display their finished projects in the Joe Rosenfeld Center, Saint’s Rest and other areas around campus and the town of Grinnell.
Through Photojournalism Corps, Schiller and Sumulong hope to create a community of photojournalists from all backgrounds and levels of experience. Andrew Kishman ’10, who attended the meeting on Thursday, is fairly new to photography.
“I haven’t even really taken photos seriously before, but I lived with Lucy (Schiller) this summer and I saw her take a lot of photos, and we talked about it, and I guess I’m really interested,” Kishman said.
Through their desire to provide an artistic community to photographers of all levels and abilities, Schiller and Sumulong have brought a new opportunity for students to express themselves through pictures and become more in touch with the greater Iowa community.