On Wednesday April 16, 2008, photojournalist Bruce Squiers came as a guest speaker to a journalism 200 course at the University at Albany. Squiers works for the Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y. He spoke to a class of freshman and sophomores about his experiences. He said he majored in journalism. From there he started at a small weekly paper where he took photos and and wrote but started liking the photo taking part of reporting more.
Squiers said, "visual literacy is a broad term." Everyone has it, it can be photo images in your head. Two photo images from his head were the assassination of JFK and 9/11. He said that as a photojournalist, you miss more moments that you can capture on film but not to worry because "good pictures happen everywhere and all the time." So a moment lost can usually be made up for later in time. He also said "you can be anywhere in the world and shot great photography."
"Good pictures are suppose to speak for themselves" but "most pictures are improved with a little explanation information,a caption," Squiers said. He said a good photo depends on all the elements coming together. The elements are the photographers perspective, which is the position of the camera, the light, the sense of composition, and form. When the photo has a certain balance, it means that they are all in symmetry.
The famous french photographer Henry Cartier Bresson said "the eye, and the brain, and the soul makes the picture, the camera merely records." Squiers said, "I only took basic psych but you are your experiences, your life." "Your interpretation my be different from someone else so be aware the your filters may be different from everyone else." What he meant by filters is the minds eye that tells the photographer what type of shot he likes, for example, being attracted to outdoor shots over fashion. As Squiers implies by saying, "I report with a camera," photojournalism is journalism through photography. A picture is a thousand words, "you pick the time, you pick the moment."
Monday, April 21, 2008
Cooling off at the Fountain
Monday, April 21, 2008, the main fountain on the uptown campus at the University at Albany.
It is very warm outdoors at the University at Alabany. Almost all the students outside had on shorts, T-shirts or a bathing suit. The photograph was taken from the stairs leading away from the campus center and to the fountain. The students in the photograph are tossing a frisbee around. The water is cold upon entrance but your body gets used to it. For most students, the water in the fountain does not go above their knees so swiming would be a bit difficult.
Most female students there were seated or lying down on the side of the fountain tanning. A student brought his blow-up turtle to the water. Not everyone got into the water, most just sat on the side with their legs dipped in chatting with friends. The sun was high in the sky at 3 pm and the only shade there was inside or under the staircases. No one there chose that.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
International Exchange
Through the University's International Programs, an English teacher from the Republic of Tatarstan,Russia, came to the University at Albany to share her culture and family story with SUNY Albany students. Julia Ziyatdinova's goal is to research the higher education system here to improve on her nation's own. She spoke excellent English as she stood before a lecture hall filled with students and told them about her country and family. She said that she was friends with Mr. Pasquil, who is the Director of Study Abroad and Exchanges in the Office of International Programs. She also said that she spent an entire day on the plane coming to the America and walked around the airport for a few hours listening to others conversations to get used to the new environment of an English-speaking country.
There are many differences in American and Tatar culture. Ziyatdinova loves the American tradition to smile and their manners. She noted that Americans are always drinking something, from bottles or cups. She meant that it was strange to see people drinking as they walked along their way because in Tatarstan, it is rare to see someone walking around drinking anything. Another odd and amazing thing to her were the brightly colored rain boots; her country only carries it in black. In Tatarstan, restaurants are very expensive and mainly used for official dinners. Here, she went to one and it wasn't as expensive and not used just for official occasions.
Ziyatdinova was reluctant to say anything on the topic at first but still shared the information that divorce isn't something people openly speak about in Tatarstan. She is divorced and has a 2 and a half year-old daughter. She didn't act as if she were trying to hide anything. She was very open with all questions asked and even offered up little stories to help the students understand her better. She thinks America is very clean because she didn't have to clean mud from her shoes when she returned to her hotel room. She was surprised that mostly everyone drove or took the bus here. The highway with no side walk came as a surprise too because she said "in Russian, many people walk."
Her mother is Russian and her father a Tatar. Her father was raised speaking Russian, but his parents were Tatars who only spoke the language, Turkish, amongst themselves. Her parents were raised in the time of communism and "communists couldn't be religious" so she was raised with no religion. Tatars were originally Muslim, Ziyatdinova said, but Christianity was forced onto them in the 16Th century by Ivan the Terrible. Both religions are practiced in Tatarstan today along with others.
The Republic of Tatarstan, which is a part of the Russian Federation is a small nation with an area of 67,838 km². It is surrounded by land on all sides and has large oil deposits. There isn't a lot of mixed culture in Tatarstan, said Ziyatdinova, "there are more and more Chinese but it's hard to see an Afro American." Ziyatdinova also said "there, we call ourselves independent. It is impossible to be independent in the middle of the country." Her research will lead her to Chicago and Los Angeles. She says after coming back home, she loves to walk around the city; Kazan, Tatarstan.
There are many differences in American and Tatar culture. Ziyatdinova loves the American tradition to smile and their manners. She noted that Americans are always drinking something, from bottles or cups. She meant that it was strange to see people drinking as they walked along their way because in Tatarstan, it is rare to see someone walking around drinking anything. Another odd and amazing thing to her were the brightly colored rain boots; her country only carries it in black. In Tatarstan, restaurants are very expensive and mainly used for official dinners. Here, she went to one and it wasn't as expensive and not used just for official occasions.
Ziyatdinova was reluctant to say anything on the topic at first but still shared the information that divorce isn't something people openly speak about in Tatarstan. She is divorced and has a 2 and a half year-old daughter. She didn't act as if she were trying to hide anything. She was very open with all questions asked and even offered up little stories to help the students understand her better. She thinks America is very clean because she didn't have to clean mud from her shoes when she returned to her hotel room. She was surprised that mostly everyone drove or took the bus here. The highway with no side walk came as a surprise too because she said "in Russian, many people walk."
Her mother is Russian and her father a Tatar. Her father was raised speaking Russian, but his parents were Tatars who only spoke the language, Turkish, amongst themselves. Her parents were raised in the time of communism and "communists couldn't be religious" so she was raised with no religion. Tatars were originally Muslim, Ziyatdinova said, but Christianity was forced onto them in the 16Th century by Ivan the Terrible. Both religions are practiced in Tatarstan today along with others.
The Republic of Tatarstan, which is a part of the Russian Federation is a small nation with an area of 67,838 km². It is surrounded by land on all sides and has large oil deposits. There isn't a lot of mixed culture in Tatarstan, said Ziyatdinova, "there are more and more Chinese but it's hard to see an Afro American." Ziyatdinova also said "there, we call ourselves independent. It is impossible to be independent in the middle of the country." Her research will lead her to Chicago and Los Angeles. She says after coming back home, she loves to walk around the city; Kazan, Tatarstan.
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