A Front Row Seat for New York Fashion Week

By Crystal Schreiner 

Chris Benz showcasing his next line at the Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week. Photo: Crystal Schreiner.

My last semester of my senior year has finally arrived. I’m one class short of my actual degree in advertising and trying to juggle school while managing my roller-coaster life outside of the classroom. Between running a lucrative start-up business called GoGeddit.com with other Marquette alumni, freelancing to build my portfolio and working in Marquette’s Student Media Department, it’s been crazy.

It’s been sleepless. It’s been a challenge. But it has also led to amazing opportunities.

Growing up next to a beautiful sheep farm in a small town called Athens, Wisconsin, with a mere 1,000 people and no stoplights never stopped me from trying for my goal in life to be big, bold and over-the-top. I’ve always had a dreamy image in my head when trying to imagine what gigantic cities were like, and especially when picturing what the nation’s competitive capital, NYC, was like. I was so intrigued at the thought of skyscrapers and city lights painting the sky. And I now know that with hard work and persistence, anyone can find his or her way to New York if so desired.

The rule of the game is as follows: first, find a passion. Then live it, breath it, and carry it with you everywhere you go. Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself standing in the middle of Times Square with a little tear of happiness in your eye.

I’ll never forget that moment.

What is this passion of mine? Fashion photography.

Vocation in a Vocation: On Photojournalism and Spirituality

By Jennifer Janviere

Father Doll, S.J. talks about photographing land mine victims in Saravejo, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Photography isn’t a topic that most people closely associate with spirituality. As it turns out, however, the two have more in common than we might have ever imagined.

Father Don Doll, S.J. is living proof of the spiritual side of photojournalism. On a visit to Marquette University as part of the annual Mission Week celebration, Doll talked with students, faculty and friends of the Diederich College of Communication about his fascinating life’s work as both a Jesuit priest and photojournalist, something to which he referred as a “vocation in a vocation.”

Father Doll began his career as a photographer almost by accident, when he was a young Jesuit priest stationed on the Rosebud reservation among the Lakota Sioux. He learned to take photos out of necessity when tasked with developing marketing materials for the Native American tribe. He described the process as a struggle in the beginning, and talked about learning everything that he could about photography in those first few years. His hard work and dedication to the profession paid off, however, and soon Doll found himself teaching photography at Creighton University in Nebraska (where he still works today).

Doll’s work eventually broadened his reach from Native American culture to all parts of the globe. The experiences witnessed during his work with the Jesuit Refugee Service have provided the Jesuit priest with a first hand glimpse of both the beautiful and tragic nature of the human condition.

Alumni Team Wins Clarion Award

This month, alumni of the Diederich College of Communication M.A. program Jennifer Meness, Ruby Thomas and Dawn Balistreri were honored as 2010 Clarion Award winners for their project “Eroding, Embracing, or Elevating the McNeighborhood: An Analysis of Milwaukee’s McDonald’s Restaurants.”  The Clarion Awards, presented annually by the Association for Women in Communications, recognize outstanding work in marketing and communication. The paper received an award in the Photography, Graphics and Design Communications division, Special Design/Creation – Series of Items category.

While studying in the Diederich College of Communication, the three graduate students worked together to explore the effects of fast food restaurants on poverty and neighborhood image. The team first received recognition at last fall’s National Communication Association convention in Chicago, where the project was named “Best Overall Scholar to Scholar Presentation” and “Most Accessible Scholar to Scholar Presentation.”

Congratulations to our talented and creative graduates of the Diederich College of Communication!

View the full list of Clarion Award winners on the Association for Women in Communications website.