Enterprise Photo: Wayne State students protest corporate water dollars and promote a greener campus.
This week I learned that finding and taking a feature photo, or enterprise photo, that tells a story is not something quickly done. It requires being out there with your camera, in the midst of people, observing what they are up to. I also found that to get an interesting shot for an assignment, that I should go out more than once in the time allotted. To freeze time on people interacting, you have to be willing to watch often and for awhile. I wanted to capture a moment on campus where students were interacting with one another in an meaningful way. With the recent cold, this was hard to do. We all walk around with our faces bent away from the wind, hidden under layers. So instead, I found myself lapping the inside of campus buildings on the hunt for that moment. I think taking photos inside are more difficult. There is less physical activity happening and photos require additional attention to settings. I had to up my ISO and aperture to let in more light and take quite a few shots of nothing in order to secure the right exposure. A couple times, while observing others, I thought I had gotten a shot, only to realize later that it was too dark or blurred. I found the group in this photo near the back of the student center. Their eager but gentle calls to students caught my ear as I was walking up. I stopped there, watching and listening. When I got the gist of their cause, I was intrigued by their willingness to spend time in this way—discouraging the buying of disposable water bottles on campus. I am someone who carries a stainless steal water bottle with me wherever I go. Yet, making class and getting homework done is almost all I focus on at school. Their passion and dedication to a greener campus and the protest of corporate water dollars arrested me. The group wasn't pushy or loud; they just simply asked students walking by if they'd be willing to sign a pledge not to purchase disposable water bottles on campus. Many walked by without stopping. I stayed on the other side of the room and observed this, trying to be discreet while snap a shot here and there. When the student captured above stopped and agreed to make this pledge, I moved in closer to capture the moment and then quickly had to explain myself. The students were glad to have interest in their cause. I tried to continue getting more shots, some worked rather candidly, but some caught a person looking up at me and then the shot was ruined. I'm still learning how to snap authentic moments without creeping people out. Afterward, I talked and joined the group for awhile in their efforts to stop students and to encourage them to consider the pledge. I appreciate that this assignment caused me to interact and learn from strangers in a way I wouldn't naturally have been looking for. Taking Back the Tap says they hope that by collecting pledges from enough students, they may be able to convince the university not to sell disposable water bottles all together.
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