Students question lack of photography resources
By: Matea Wasend
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News
For students interested in film photography, Macalester offers very few resources. The school has no photography classes. The only photography club, MacPics, was recently re-chartered after it fell apart last year. And right now, there is no functioning darkroom on campus.
"I did AP Photography in high school and absolutely loved it," said Lauryn Gutierrez '11, one of the students who revived MacPics this year. "It surprised me that Macalester offered no photography."
Gutierrez said the darkroom MacPics formerly used in the basement of 30Mac was recently deemed unsafe because of "ventilation issues." She and a few other students are currently cleaning out the darkroom in the humanities building, though she said that is a long process.
"We are trying to get it organized and up and running," Gutierrez said. "It's unfortunately taking a while because of all the steps and processes it takes to have a quality, functional darkroom."
For students like Gutierrez, the upcoming renovation of the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, the first phase of which will cost $31 million, might seem like the perfect opportunity for Macalester to reach out to students interested in photography. At present, however, the plans for the new building do not include a darkroom.
"At this point, the drawings move us in the direction of digital photography," said Provost Kathleen Murray, who heads the renovation project.
Murray emphasized that the plans are still in the early stages. Construction, which is divided into two phases, is planned to begin at the end of fall 2010. At that point, the music building and what Murray called the "central core" of the art building will be completely gutted and rebuilt to include more offices and rehearsal spaces.
The decision about whether to include a darkroom is not affected by the phase-one plans. The fine arts spaces will not be renovated until phase two of construction, which Murray said is "still down the road."
"I did AP Photography in high school and absolutely loved it," said Lauryn Gutierrez '11, one of the students who revived MacPics this year. "It surprised me that Macalester offered no photography."
Gutierrez said the darkroom MacPics formerly used in the basement of 30Mac was recently deemed unsafe because of "ventilation issues." She and a few other students are currently cleaning out the darkroom in the humanities building, though she said that is a long process.
"We are trying to get it organized and up and running," Gutierrez said. "It's unfortunately taking a while because of all the steps and processes it takes to have a quality, functional darkroom."
For students like Gutierrez, the upcoming renovation of the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, the first phase of which will cost $31 million, might seem like the perfect opportunity for Macalester to reach out to students interested in photography. At present, however, the plans for the new building do not include a darkroom.
"At this point, the drawings move us in the direction of digital photography," said Provost Kathleen Murray, who heads the renovation project.
Murray emphasized that the plans are still in the early stages. Construction, which is divided into two phases, is planned to begin at the end of fall 2010. At that point, the music building and what Murray called the "central core" of the art building will be completely gutted and rebuilt to include more offices and rehearsal spaces.
The decision about whether to include a darkroom is not affected by the phase-one plans. The fine arts spaces will not be renovated until phase two of construction, which Murray said is "still down the road."
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