Digital photography students gearing up to publish blurb books

Digital+photography+students+gearing+up+to+publish+blurb+books

Ashley Barletta, Staff writer

The ART-305 Digital Photo class has been working on an end-of-semester project. For this project, students were able to take photographs of things that interest them. The end product of this project is the publishing of the student’s work in a BLURB photo book. BLURB is a website that allows students as well as photographers to create their own photo books, to publish them on the BLURB website and to even put them up for sale if they so choose. Something that is interesting about this class is that the students in it come from a variety of majors, but many are minoring in photography.

Professor Gary Cardot teaches the ART-305 Digital Photo course. “Their work runs the gamut from dance portraiture, such as that by Dance major Emma-line Devore, that is on location; to still-lifes by Megen Grenze, Graphic Design major; to a study of various types of environmental portraiture and studio portraits by Victoria McGinty, History major and the current Vice-President of the Mercyhurst Photography club,” said Cardot. “Another student, senior Cole Wahler, also another History major, is producing a documentary study of historic architecture in Erie, PA, while freshman Ethan Houk, Cyber Security major, is photographing Mercyhurst at night. Senior Graphic Design major Aubrey Dietzel is making some great unusual studies of decaying and abandoned buildings,” Cadot said.

There are numerous classes that can be taken with a photography minor, including classes in darkroom film photography, digital photography, art history courses and independent study projects in a student’s senior year. Some students will have the opportunity to go on to intern for a photographer, museum or even a publishing house. There is also a Photography Club here at Mercyhurst which is currently planning a photography show sometime in the spring.

Emma Devore, a junior Dance major and photography minor ex-plained her inspiration. “My BLURB project is very much influenced by my Dance major. I am portraying the evolution of ballet through photography which encompasses Roman-tic, Classical, Neoclassical and Contemporary ballet,” Devore said. Her work also features many members of the Mercyhurst community. “This project is featuring many of the talented Dance majors here at Mercyhurst which were selected based on living situations (any photographs with dancers that are close and/or touching one another are photos of roommates). I am very excited to combine dance and photography in this project for many reasons. It portrays the evolution through the poses that the dancers are doing, and the hair, the costuming, etc. The Dance Department chair, Professor Partusch, graciously allowed me the ability to use the costuming in our loft, so the images also feature a variety of costuming from pan-cake tutus to sneakers and jeans,” Devore said.

For more information about the Digital Photo class project, email Professor Cardot at gcardot@mer-cyhurst.edu. One can also look for the display of the photos taken by the ART-305 students in the hallway connecting Zurn Hall and the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center.

If one is interested in becoming a Photo minor, emailing Cadot is also a good place to start. Cardot noted that it is also never too late to join the Mercyhurst Photography Club, even if your interest in the art form is small.