Best of CCSF photojournalism on display

 

Patrick Cochran

On Thursday April 23 there was a large turnout for “Life on the Hill: City College and All Its Glory”, a photo exhibition on the Ocean Campus that featured some of the best photos that Guardsman photographers have taken during the past two years.

Bungalow 615 was packed to capacity, with the drinks flowing and the cheese being gobbled up, with numerous visitors walking through to take a look at the photo gallery.

The event was the first of its kind for the Guardsman, and journalism department chair Juan Gonzalez was very pleased with the turnout. “For our first time doing this we had a lot of people come, I so excited,” Gonzalez said. Besides displaying the work of the photographers, the event also served as a great way to raise awareness for the journalism department.

Two of the the most notable images were “Students and Police Clash” taken by Santiago Mejia, and “32  and a Fire” by Franchon Smith.

“Students and Police Clash” was taken during the Spring 2014 semester during the tumultuous Conlan Hall student/police clash. Mejia, the former editor-in-chief at the Guardsman and now a current intern at the San Francisco Chronicle, is immensely proud of his photo, which captures the emotion of that violent day.

“That image opened up a lot of doors for me,” Mejia said. “It is the only reason why I got accepted into this two week New York Times workshop in Tucson, Arizona. One image can make you if its good enough. It is the first photo I show to people in my portfolio, I am very proud of it.”

Smith’s “32  and a Fire” was taken back on  Jan. 28 of the devastating 22nd and Mission fire.

When the fire broke out, Smith was in her Journalism night class at the Mission Center. During her break ran outside and started snapping away.

“I was late coming back to class, but my teacher, professor Rochmis, was understanding,” Smith said.

One of the most high profile visitors to the gallery was Judy Walgren, the director of photography at the San Francisco Chronicle. Walgren was highly impressed  by much of the work, and was particularly enamored by Smith’s  “32  and a Fire” .

“Its a very good photo, and I like that there is a lot going on. It captures the moment so well, and the color and the fire hoses in action really make the shot,” Walgren said. “The fact that she took the photo during her class break makes me like it even more!”

Besides the chance to showcase their photographs, some of the images were also up for sale. James Fanucci was able to walk away with $80 after selling a copy of “Chinatown”, a beautiful image with great use of shadow and light.

“Hopefully this is the first of many events of this kind,” Gonzalez said.

With the opportunity to show off their best work and possibly make some scratch most students would certainly agree.