LEARNING
TO BE A COMMUNITY JOURNALIST
by Sean Cayton
Freelance Photographer
I remember once debating a photographer friend on the journalistic
merit of the small town portrait studio.
I argued that the small town portrait studio was no different
from the photography department in a small town newsroom.
Different branches
of the same tree, I said.
To my way of thinking the family portrait, the baby picture,
the senior sitting or the wedding photograph carries just as
much weight as a
picture of a house fire in the morning paper.
I cited an example to defend this premise.
It was a straight forward wedding picture of my grandparents.
It shows two young people embarking on a promising life together.
They eventually
raised four children and became grandparents to 13.
This photograph was recently passed down to me in its original
frame. It is a treasure to me. When I view it today, I imagine
what my grandparents
must have felt at the time.
I don’t know the photographer’s name, but I learned
that he operated the local portrait studio in the small Kansas
town of
Mound City.
On a recent visit, I came across dozens of his photographs hanging
in the local historical museum. The pictures were simple vignettes
of a growing and vibrant farming community. The photographs recorded
30 years of the town’s history from the 1930’s through
the 1960’s.
Two pictures that struck me were panoramic images. One showed
a new brick school with hopeful students standing out in front.
Another showed
the local hunting club with their hound dogs.
After recounting the story of the wedding picture and the small
town photographer who made it and so many others, I argued that
he was both
involved within his community and documenting it at the same
time.
I’m not sure whether I convinced my friend, but today I am
finding myself heading further down the path of the portrait photographer.
And I am celebrating it.
Now on display at the Antlers Hilton during the holidays is a
photographic exhibit sponsored by a group of local portrait photographers
in Colorado
Springs. We call ourselves Take 7.
This will be the third year we have hosted the exhibit and invited
the public to view our work, much of which is focused on our
community.
I am coming to understand and to appreciate the value of a quiet
contribution made with the intent to document and record the
events happening in
my own town.
© Sean Cayton
John Neuhaus, 3, sleeps in the car before his parents
wedding at the Briarhurst Manor in Manitou Springs. |
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© Sean Cayton
Groom
Dave Nast, left, with his best man Marshall Cape during the
wedding reception at the Sheraton Hotel. |
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© Sean Cayton
Best man Charles
Langely escapes the grasp of bride Sarah Konicke during a game
of Duck Duck Goose after the
ceremony at the Colorado Springs School.. |
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© Sean Cayton
Sally, a yellow lab, stands at the entrance to my in-laws
home in New Hampshire.
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© Sean Cayton
High Scool Senior Richard Lamb sits in the crawl space near
his bedroom surrounded by music lyrics he painted on the wall.
Lamb is an aspiring guitarist and plays in a band. |
Sean Cayton
Sean@caytonphotography.com http://www.caytonphotography.com
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