THROUGH A TOWNIE’S LENS
By Jock Lauterer
In all the years of UNC’s long and storied history, there will be no University Day quite like this year’s celebration, Monday, Oct. 12. Thanks to the pandemic, the event will be held — like so much else in this new now — remotely.
I’m sure some subjects can be taught remotely quite well. But photojournalism isn’t one of them. At least not in my opinion. Remember “f8 and be there”? The “there” can’t be your living room; it’s got to be out there, in the real world.
Thinking back, it makes me thankful that I got to teach photo in those pre-COVID days, when we took social gatherings like this scene outside South Building for granted. Which leads us to this old photo from University Day 2005, when I was teaching a 100-level class for first-years called Exploring the Visual World. Almost quaint to think of it now, in those pre-smartphone days, when we used digital point-and-shoot cameras, all but antiques these days.
Wanting to expose my newbie photo students to the demands and unpredictability of covering a live event, I unleashed them on University Day, awarding the only “A” in the class to the most creative and innovative photographer.
Pictured above is the clear winner at work.
Jock Lauterer began selling newspapers for Jim Shumaker and Roland Giduz on the streets of Chapel Hill at the age of 8. For the last 20 years, he has served as a senior lecturer and adjunct professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, teaching photojournalism and community journalism.
Nice paper! Come do a story on DooR to DooR a music program at UNC Hospital planning music for the nursing work shift every night, 7 nights!! Doortodoornc.com