This last week (maybe two weeks, I’ve lost track of time) was busy—in fact, it may have been the busiest of the semester so far—but it might’ve been the most fun as well. Why? The photos came back from participants!

After dropping off the disposables at Bedford Camera in Overland Park, Kansas, and waiting a few days, an email popped by in my inbox saying they were ready. I drove back, got a USB stick with the photos on it, and drove back to Columbia, eager to see the work. When I plugged it in, I was honestly blown away by some of the photos. Here’s some samples:

As you can see, some of the images scanned in sideways or upside down. These are the unedited, untouched photos.

I think the first thing that hits me is the use of film. The Fujifilm seems like the right choice. The colors really pop and the whole thing is very stylistically consistent. The second thing that hit me was just how incredible the work the participants did is. I mean, seriously, they went above and beyond with these images. I was immediately excited to edit these photos, because there’s a lot of different directions I can take with the photos they’ve given me. Some of the photos are really fun, and I think that gives me room to have fun with the edit.

I was amazed at some of the techniques and creativity that showed up. The photo of the church (taken by Delores Woodhurst) with the ring of diffracted light is really an incredible shot. In another image, I liked how Delores used the store window as a reflective surface—it’s a really interesting photo to look at.

I was adamant that participants use the flash, because of the quality of these cameras. Really, these cameras are created with the flash in mind, meaning a shot not using the flash is usually extremely underexposed, unless you are in direct sunlight. I think the flash really adds something to some of these photographs—the colors are so, so vibrant. I thought it was smart of Becca Evans to use the flash on the ultra reflective road sign. You can tell that newsworthiness isn’t the only consideration in many of their photos. Instead, participants took the newsworthy and added some creativity to it. I think that’s really cool.

I was struck by how much daily life dominated what participants found as newsworthy, though subjects such as the school, church, and agriculture were consistent across the board. This isn’t particularly unusual, and in fact, I kinda figured this would be the case. I thought daily life would be common just because there’s so much time in the day, and many of the participants are busy. I think there’s enough here other than daily life, though, to give me some ideas of what participants saw as newsworthy.

Either way, I just wanted to get this field note out there to show you what an incredible job the participants did. I’m really excited to see this project through!

Private Page