This photograph reminds me of how I feel every time I play Wordle. I\u2019ve got a nice winning streak going, but there\u2019s no guarantee that I won\u2019t lose today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after. What you accomplished yesterday has no bearing on what you\u2019re able to achieve today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve photographed the Great Falls Balloon Festival for decades, and every year I manage to squeeze out what I consider to be an acceptable image that achieves something last year\u2019s did not. But there are no guarantees that I\u2019ll emerge a winner. So each August, I set out to cover an early morning launch with a bit of disbelief and trepidation. Unlike the Wordle challenge, the balloon festival test is a subjective one. And I\u2019m the judge who decided that the 2023 version was another win for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I took this photo of Madison Hollis ’26 warming up for a home softball game from inside the dugout. The ball seen in the photograph is not actually the ball the pitcher threw. It is a ball thrown from third base. I guess you could say it\u2019s like an optical illusion. I like it because it\u2019s random. It\u2019s puzzling. It\u2019s unpredictable. It\u2019s ironic. You do this photojournalism long enough, you can say you\u2019ve seen everything. But this is a photo that made me look twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I go to a sporting event, I probably leave the game with 500 to 1,000 photos. Back at the office, I go through those photos and probably each photo gets a fourth of a second. I\u2019m in and out, deciding fast which one stays and which one goes as I go, click, click, click. I flew past this one and thought, “What?” It\u2019s by no means a good photo, but it\u2019s a photo that made me do a double take and laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Assistant Professor of Dance Brian Evans shows up twice in this image created in the Marcy Plavin Dance Studio \u2014 there’s Evans and then there is his reflection. It appears to me as a gentle moment, filled with light and dark. It documents a solo performance that was part of the 2023 MLK Day workshop \u201cDo, Process: An Offering\/Sharing of Embodied Authenticities.\u201d Billed as \u201ca creative arts framework tasked with generating work grappling with the first three words of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution,\u201d Evans and his students made art about what happens when \u201cone of our country\u2019s foundational documents\u201d fails to \u201cequally protect all of its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The workshop embodied a multidisciplinary presentation rich with visual imagery, much of it filled with powerful movement and emotion, quite unlike this quiet frame. The production reinforced the idea that there are many ways to have successful, even exciting, conversations about painful and nuanced issues. More please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two things you need to know about this photograph. First, this photo cannot fully articulate the truly herculean effort put forth by Liam Byrne \u201923 in the 35-pound weight throw during the Maine State Meet last February. I hope I’m not offending him by calling this beast mode. Secondly, yes, I am, indeed, excited but half terrified while shooting photographs of this event: Every. Single. Time. Don\u2019t even ask me about the javelin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I like shooting sports. I like playing sports. I like watching sports. Diversity in assignments is one of the benefits of my job. If you can shoot sports you can shoot anything. When you are using your photojournalist\u2019s eye, sports offers every opportunity that life has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I had wanted to photograph Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon\u2019s newborn son, Archer, but had not had the chance. My photographer\u2019s mind had conjured candid images of a cherubic and happy infant filling the frame in his mother\u2019s arms. So when Pridgeon, on parental leave, stopped by Lane Hall with her son one March afternoon to say hello, I grabbed the chance to memorialize them in our studio, where 10-week-old Archer was willing to sit for a few minutes before communicating his displeasure. He\u2019s not even in focus, but clearly he is the center of everyone\u2019s attention. And his mother appreciates the moment, screaming and all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gotta love me some dance. In this case, it was at the Spring Dance Concert dress rehearsal at Schaeffer Theatre. Every performance was great. Hard to focus on just one. The dance was created by a Ukrainian student, Ruslan Peredelskyi ’25, to convey the idea of hope during wartime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This image makes me think of perspective, understanding that all of our students on campus were born after 9\/11, which means that every student grew up in a different culture than I did in the \u201890s. For this dancer, I wonder what their culture and youth related to war was like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I also love about this photograph is the contrast of color, white and black, and the symmetry in the frame, the timing of the jump, and the expression on the center dancer’s face. What I see is white linen that\u2019s flying because of gravity and the dancers jumping and twisting. It\u2019s a well choreographed piece with the photographer in the right spot at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I made all kinds of pictures when I visited Hallie Herz \u201811 and Eva Fury in their newly established Kindling Collective, a gear library <\/a>in the basement of Portland\u2019s Equality Community Center. The new resource center that was started by the two women, who are spouses as well as business partners, aims to help the LGBTQ+ community access the outdoors in a safe, fulfilling, and affordable way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had known Hallie (at right in the photo) as a Bates student, so we were not strangers, but their gear library is housed in a tiny 400-square-foot space. The three of us didn\u2019t have much room to distance. We set up a few portraits, but I was also interested in some candid moments. One of my favorites was this one that capitalized on the light projected by a wall lamp and portrayed their sense of intelligence, intimacy, and intensity as they tackled a work-related issue. I wondered if they were even aware of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This photo of President Clayton Spencer is not so much one of my favorite moments as what I think was probably one of Clayton\u2019s favorite moments at the 2023 Reunion. This was in Bonney Science Center, where she and longtime dean James Reese were speaking on Saturday afternoon to alumni of MOSAIC<\/a>. To show how far back they go, she brought her high school yearbook, opening it up to a page showing a photo of her and Reese. Yes, they went to the same high school in North Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a very compelling smile. When was the last time you saw a smile like that? If I had to pick a favorite photo of her, this is it: A photograph of someone smiling with an authentic smile. It\u2019s something to rally behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It looks like these two referees were agreeing to disagree about which player last touched the ball before it went out of bounds in an Alumni Gymnasium contest between Bates and Bowdoin. It would be fitting if it was about touch, since these two are touching each other. Shapes, patterns, and proximity make this photograph amusing to me. And it brings to mind Agnes Varda\u2019s 1977 French film, One Sings, the Other Doesn\u2019t, <\/em>about two women who, despite their very major differences, remain friends for life. I\u2019d like to imagine something along the same lines for these two gentlemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here on the Appalachian Trail trip taken by students attending Bates\u2019 long-running program known as AESOP (Annual Entering Student Orientation Program<\/a>), this group who came to do trail maintenance to improve the AT are posing for a portrait on Bemis Mountain \u2014 3,580 feet up in the clouds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a very challenging hike and assignment. The road had multiple washouts. Then the first 10 feet of the trail was straight up. It was an aggressive hike and I was carrying 50 to 60 pounds of camera gear for video. Not something I typically do, let alone while going up a mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have often enjoyed photographing Associate Professor of Biology Brett Huggett outdoors as he leads his students on field trips to the Saco Heath, Lewiston\u2019s College Street, or the Historic Quad. This time we remained indoors, but no matter. A five-minute walk from my desk, the light was glorious, the \u200b\u200bchlorophyll, lime green. And Huggett was game for interaction with his students on this late September day when he decided to move his dendrology classroom from a Carnegie Science Hall lecture room to the rooftop greenhouse where the students gathered to learn how to identify tree species using specimens that Huggett had gathered in his fieldwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This moment is between President Garry W. Jenkins and Christina Estabrook, the staff member who was charged with managing the massive project known as a presidential inauguration. The photograph was taken at the ceremony’s dress rehearsal, on the afternoon of Oct. 25. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was there really just to get a feel for the space and light, the depth of field, all of that. Maybe some of the photographs are edited and archived at the end of the day, but mostly it\u2019s an exercise in thinking about what the day of inauguration will bring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This photo might have been deleted and never archived. But when the Lewiston shootings happened a few hours later \u2014 necessitating the postponement of the inauguration \u2014 this photo then seemed historic. When you talk about the root of what we do, it\u2019s documenting the history of the college. This moment at Bates was an important day in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Accompanied by her parents, Arthur McAfee and Anita LaRue-McAfee, women\u2019s swimming and diving captain Dylan McAfee \u201923 walks the gauntlet of applauding teammates who were on hand for Senior Day festivities before a meet against Tufts at Merrill Gymnasium\u2019s Tarbell Pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not a new situation for me to photograph, but this particular moment jumps out at me. It\u2019s the joy in the faces of the parents and child, and the enthusiastic response portrayed by the clapping hands of the other swimmers that tugged at my heart. As the mother of a daughter, it reminds me of the delight children can provide their parents at any age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n This photo shows Alan Wang \u201924 posing for a portrait during his Purposeful Work internship<\/a> at the Maine State Archives. What made this engagement exciting was Alan\u2019s willingness to share and explore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The best photographs are the ones where the creator and the subject are working together toward the end product. I scheduled an hour for it, but I thought, “I like your enthusiasm and excitement,” so we tried a couple of spots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He had a complete willingness to share and participate and to explore the space together as I photographed him, which was nice. Not everyone is willing to give that time. Alan wanted to give the time and he wanted to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have to give myself a motivational pep talk every time I walk onto an icy Lake Andrews to photograph the annual spectacle of Puddle Jump<\/a>. It’s a pageant, and a cold one, that leaves me numb, sometimes speechless, even though I\u2019ve experienced it repeatedly. When I say \u201cexperienced,\u201d I mean that vicariously, of course, because I remain grateful each winter that it\u2019s them, not me who jump half naked into a frigid body of water. There\u2019s always something to show for their and my respective efforts, however, like this collective moment of self awareness as this trio paused \u201cfrozen\u201d for eternity, to pose for the camera in midair. Shown (from left) are Jared O’Hare ’23, <\/strong>Chloe Arons \u201823, and Chris Euston ’23. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trashion Show, <\/a>another distinctive Bates event. Every year fall colors remind me of the impending awesomeness of Bates students and their creative ways of designing attire and modeling it. Here Adelle Welch \u201925 models the \u201cSwan 2.0\u201d designed by Grace Acton \u201924, a homage to the Swan ball gown designed by the mid-20th century designer Charles James. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Welch\u2019s energy specifically reminded me of the vibes you would get from fashion photographers like Richard Avedon, who photographed for fashion magazines like Harper\u2019s Bazaar<\/em> and Vogue<\/em> during a 50-year career that began in the 1940s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everyone can go on a stage, not everyone can model trash on a runway, not everyone can pose for a picture like this. This person showed up with some gestures and poses and did it confidently, without thinking or pausing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I love the symmetry as this group of three Bates varsity volleyball players line up to demonstrate an underhand serve to a young girl during National Girls and Women in Sports Day last February. Shown are (from left) Ellie Asada \u201926, Ami Evans \u201926, and Chrissy Chu \u201925. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What I love about this event held in the Gray Athletic Building is that it\u2019s an annual celebration of women\u2019s athletics at Bates that promotes the recognition of the 1972 Title IX legislation that changed my life<\/a> and the trajectory of countless other girls who love to play sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nine days after the Lewiston mass shootings<\/a>, Tree Street Youth, joined by many other organizations and members of the Bates community, led an outpouring of support called \u201cLove Lewiston Day.\u201d Activities included sharing remembrance ribbons, writing thank you cards and signs, and dispensing \u201cfree hugs\u201d \u2014 part of a social movement that offers hugs to strangers as random acts of kindness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here the heartfelt embrace offered and received was with two individuals who had worked side by side that day: Abdurahman Abdi (left), age 13, and Starr Bradley \u201925 of Houston, a part-time Tree Street staffer, who supports the Lewiston after-school program and mentors teens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I stopped by Tree Street that brilliantly sunny afternoon to catch a few moments with Bates students and alumni who participated in the activities, either as staff, volunteers, or visitors. In this case, the power of the hug shared by Abdi and Bradley was palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theophil Syslo says:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When Phyllis and I document the college and its people, we seek authentic, real-life snippets of what you do, who you are. In this case, Rishi Madnani ’23 is doing something different: He’s striking a pose for the camera, in a very confident way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He was the senior speaker at Commencement<\/a>. I liked this photo moment because he shows nice situational awareness. Contrapposto<\/em>. Framed. His perfectly framed flashing deuces are highlighted by his draped garnet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s walking toward the camera, versus walking away from the camera. I can\u2019t think of a better beginning. I see him taking his first steps to his young career or his new life or his new beginning. I don\u2019t really look at it as his last day on campus. Visually, he\u2019s stepping on a shadow, but into the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phyllis Graber Jensen says: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I spent the better part of March 6, 2023, photographing the newly elected Bates president, Garry W. Jenkins, as he arrived at Bates for his first official visit. His husband, Jon Lee, accompanied him. The photo opportunities included posed portraits around campus, visiting Admission\u2019s Lindholm House, hanging out on Alumni Walk with President Clayton Spencer and the Bates Bobcat, and, finally, his formal introduction to the community<\/a> in Alumni Gymnasium. These situations had been carefully planned and itemized in an official schedule. But one event was impromptu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 2:58 p.m., the president-elect emailed me that he and Jon had forgotten to let me know they planned to head over to the College Store at that time. \u201cNo worries if you are busy,\u201d he wrote. I rushed over to find the pair shopping for Bates swag and meeting the store\u2019s staff. Trailing them around the store, I witnessed this moment when they discovered a rainbow silicone phone wallet. Nice for them. Perfect for me. It was a good foreshadowing of their willingness to be in front of \u2014 and behind (for their respective Instagram accounts) \u2014 the camera this past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A picture says a thousand words. But how many words describe the process of photographing an entire community \u2014 Bates in this case \u2014 from the eclectic perspectives of two visual artists?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":159370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,11010,24,223,11009],"tags":[11804],"class_list":["post-159302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-arts","category-athletics","category-slideshow","category-the-college","tag-photographers-favorites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159302"}],"version-history":[{"count":81,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159780,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159302\/revisions\/159780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230820_Great_Falls_Balloon_Festival_1003.webp\")
\n\n\n\nEye On the Ball<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230507_Softball_Williams_1659.webp\")
\n\n\n\n‘Do, Process’<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230116_MLK_Do_Process_Workshop_0394.webp\")
\n\n\n\nA Herculean Effort<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230204_Track_Field_811.webp\")
\n\n\n\nAmusing Archer<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230309_Stephanie_Archer_0038.webp\")
\n\n\n\nSoar, Spin, Sway, Spring<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230406_Dance_Rehearsals_1389.webp\")
\n\n\n\nLamplight<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230615_Kindling_Collective_0550.webp\")
\n\n\n\nMajor Memories<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/Clayton_James_Diptych_FINAL.webp\")
\n\n\n\nOne Sings, The Other Doesn’t<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/231115_Mens_Basketball_Bowdoin_1978.webp\")
\n\n\n\nRocky Mountain High<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230903_AESOP_Bemis_2216.webp\")
\n\n\n\nSecret Garden<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230929_Brett_Huggett_Dendrology_Greenhouse_1621.webp\")
\n\n\n\nHistoric Moment<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/231025_Inaguration_Rehearsal_0409.webp\")
\n\n\n\nDelightful Daughter<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230120_Swimming_Tufts_0443.webp\")
\n\n\n\nFiling the Files<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230731_Alan_PW_Intern_2128.webp\")
\n\n\n\nFrozen in Time<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230210_Puddle_Jump_3024.webp\")
\n\n\n\nStrike a Pose<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/231115_Trashion_Show_9072.webp\")
\n\n\n\nGirl Power<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230211_National_Girls_and_Women_in_Sports_Day_1477A.webp\")
\n\n\n\nHealing<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/231103_Love_Lewiston_Day_1336_CROP.webp\")
\n\n\n\nYou Do You<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Theophil](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230528_Commencement_1715.webp\")
\n\n\n\nNo Worries<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"Phyllis](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2023\/12\/230307_Garry_Jenkins_Jon_Lee_College_Store_0145.webp\")