The Wake

Thrust into a world of complete independence, we first-year students have reacted in a number of ways. No longer under the watchful eye of our parents and guardians, we were forced to step out of our comfort zones, and into a world of fresh faces and new obstacles. Twelve freshmen were selected through application to document their first semesters as freshman at the University of Minnesota. Through photography and journaling, these students captured this time of personal discovery, uncertainty, and stress. Would they fold under the pressures of increased workload? Could they survive the sheer size and population of the U? Would they achieve more A’s and B’s on their hepatitis reports than on their finals? Only time would tell. Over at the Coffman Art Gallery, I took in the fruit of twelve semesters of progress.

The level of photographic ability varied greatly among the participants, but all efforts were genuine. The most striking feature of these projects was how they all told a unique story, demonstrating the forgotten fact that each person in themselves is an interesting tale. In our cramped-for-time, 1,000-things-on-our-mind world, we rarely take the time to realize how inherently captivating each individual can be. This art exhibit was a welcome step back from my own life, and into that of twelve others.

Two of the freshmen were at the U from states outside of the Midwest. The first was Donovan Begay from White Cone, AZ, a small town on a 24,000 acre reservation. Donovan was this year’s recipient of the annual Ethel Curry Native American Scholarship Fund. One theme of Donovan’s photographs was his heritage as a Navajo Indian. He’s involved in an American Indian student organization. “It was important to me to help with establishing our presence here, as we’re such a small part of the population,” he says. Donovan also had a photo taken from inside his dorm, Frontier Hall, looking out, capturing the year’s first snowfall. “A lot of the pictures were of my dorm and others, because this is my new home,” he says. The other non-Midwesterner was Hannah Eaton from Brooklyn, NY. Her overall theme was expressed in chaos, not uncommon to a first year’s lifestyle: Pictures of messy dorms adorned with McDonald’s wrappers and peanut butter jars. Contrasting with the others, my favorite photo was of a girl sitting out on a rock just off the bank of the river, looking off towards the calm water.

The message of Tahnee Zerr’s photographs and journals was that finding new friends is hard. Hailing from the tiny town of Mohall, ND, the task was, at first, as daunting as the move to the big city. By semester’s end, however, she was as cozy as could be. “I discovered it was possible to love and call two very different places home,” Taltnee says in her closing remarks of the short explanation next to her pictures. Jennifer Marshall had a strong emphasis on the overwhelming task of finding her classes, and then subsequently staying on top of her studies. The majority of Jennifer’s pictures were of students alone in the library or Coffman, books spread all around, head resting in their hands, a pose of utter despair. Her best photo, though, was one of the few not focused on the rigors of the collegiate workload. It was a smiling couple shot unbeknownst, sharing an intimate moment in the park. They sat in the vast shade of a tree-laden section of campus, the lighting ideal for such a private moment.

April Nowack’s photos bore a thematic resemblance to that of Jennifer’s. Her best shot was of two mesmerized students staring blankly up at two pillars in front of a University building, dwarfed by its sheer size. Evan Stremke’s shots and words were all dedicated to the strong ties he’s already formed with fellow dorm occupants and classmates. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native’s best picture was a stoic worm’s eye shot of Coffman Union in black and white. Sara Duchrow cited marching band, late nights, studying, and new friends as areas of greatest consequence to her first four months at the U. Her best picture was taken from underneath an overhang near Kolthoff Hall, facing downtown. A support beam split the picture in two: our skyline on the right and a burst of sun filling the left. Heather Klein, of Owatonna, was clearly one of the participants going in with a skill for the art of photography. Her shot of the mighty Mississippi from behind the shoe tree on the Washington Avenue bridge was one of the most creative by a mile. Her photo of the Weisman Art Museum was the best of its kind. A faint glare of orange reflected off the metallic sides, accentuated by the clear blue sky filling up the remainder of the frame.

Maria Macias’s photos focused mainly on wacky exploits of her pals. She snapped one particularly noteworthy picture of an empty sidewalk through a rain covered window on an overcast afternoon. Josh Miller was the only one of the twelve to take any pictures of the U of M’s noted party scene. The scene outside a particularly raucous house on Halloween night was well worth remembering. He also had a series of four pictures showcasing Minneapolis’s stunning skyline. The first was taken at sunrise, the second at its set, the third of blurred view on a foggy day, and the final in the dead of night. Megan Manteuffel only had seven pictures on her board, far below the average, but needed not a single more. Megan was another participant of sure photographic talent. Heidi Johansen, who as you may have guessed, hails from North Dakota, stressed the fact of her having graduated with only thirty-nine other students. She took several shots of bicycles and bike racks, a curious fixation with no explanation … other than the fact that she’s from North Dakota … which is really just an answer in itself.