Picture of Traci looking at some pictures

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY

************************** Photojournalism exhibit explores student work

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - Students at Lake Superior University from last fall's photojournalism course are having an exhibition through September in the Kenneth J. Shouldice Library art gallery.

LSSU's Photojournalism 220 is an introductory course designed to get students comfortable with their personal digital cameras.

In addition, it teaches students how to develop a critical eye with regards to creating and reviewing good quality print images for professional or personal endeavors.

“National and global communication is rapidly changing in the world of technology. The number of working photographers using small digital cameras for news is continuously increasing. Newspapers and websites are relying on this form of instant technology as a vital resource to keep up with reader demands,” says John Shibley, who taught last year's course along with Mike Lussier as an adjunct instructor.

Photojournalism entails two primary pillars, spot news and the photo essay.

Spot news focuses on capturing a spontaneous scene that conveys the adventure or story as it happens.

A photo essay differs from instant spot news in the sense that it incorporates a series of photos in sequence.

This style of technique allows the photographer to tell a story in visual narrative form.

“Spot news photos run with a short caption that incorporates an eye-fetching one-line 'kicker' to capture a reader’s attention,” says Shibley, who works in LSSU's public relations office as a staff photographer and writer.

This fall's course is being taught two days a week.

Monday sessions are taught by Shibley with emphasis upon theory, exploration, and application.

On Wednesdays, Lussier teaches students the basic mechanics of using a digital camera.

“We found in our photojournalism course last fall that most students were unfamiliar with how to use their cameras. Our goal for this year is not only to teach students the academics of photojournalism, but to increase their familiarity and knowledge in regards to operating an increasingly popular form of media technology,” says Lussier.

Once this fall's class gets up to speed, Shibley and Lussier will critique submissions every week for composition, aesthetics and technical merit.

Students are given the option to write their own captions and have them edited by the instructor.

There are great benefits for students enrolled in photojournalism at LSSU.

Students have the liberty of selecting topics for their assignments from coming campus events, favorite hobbies, or subjects of interest that are geared toward their majors.

Every completed assignment is evaluated for substance and quality.

Photos that make it through the critical process are then released through the university's news site and distributed to the media.

If an external media outlet picks up a submission, a student's grade jumps a third of a letter grade.

“One of the most exciting things that took place last fall was to have photos by three of our students picked up by the Associated Press. In addition, almost half of the student work was published in hometown newspapers,” says Shibley.

“Eastern Upper Peninsula and Northern Ontario media picked up all spot news on display in the gallery,” he adds.

Lussier is a graduate from Brooks Institute of Photography, an internationally recognized private school near Los Angeles that specializes in filmmaking, graphic design, and photography training.

He is the owner of AgX Imaging in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., one of the few high-end E-6 slide processing labs left in the country.

Shibley worked for newspapers as he trained to be a high school science teacher at Northern Michigan University.

He continued photography after college by freelancing for the Associated Press, New York Times, the Detroit metro papers, and working full time for the Marquette Mining Journal and the Sault Evening News.

Prior to coming to Lake State in 1998, he did a four-year stint as an associate editor for Astronomy magazine, where he oversaw hobby content and covered the planetary science and manned spaceflight beats.

Currently 16 LSSU students are enrolled in the fall 2009 photojournalism course.

There are nine openings available for students who are still interested.

The last day to add the course is September 9.

The course may be taught next semester, provided there is enough interest expressed by students to the Dept. of Communication Studies, and the Fine and Performing Arts.

For more course information, contact Shibley at [email protected] or Lussier at [email protected].

************************** PHOTO CAPTION: Traci Moore and Sean O'Mara explore the spot news section of a photojournalism class exhibit up in the Kenneth Shouldice Library's gallery through September.The gallery is open weekends and until 11 p.m. on weeknights. LSSU photo by John Shibley.