WesPhoto is a Wesleyan University student photography club that provides a community for photographers of all skill levels and experiences to come together for creative exploration, collaboration, and participation. Our mission is to create a welcoming environment for students to progress in their work, learn new skills, and expand their creative horizons.
www.wesphotoclub.com wesphotographyclub@gmail.com @wesphotoclub
This publication was printed sustainable with the support of the Wesleyan Green Fund and the Wesleyan Student Assembly’s Student Budget Committee.
Cover photo by Owen Forbes Photo on p. iii credit to Adobe Stock
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WesPhoto Magazine Travel Edition
Winter 2022 Volume 1, Issue 1 iii
Staff Executive/Editorial Board Founder/President Ava Nederlander Editor-in-Chief Alex Turtil
Photographers Samuel Applegate Ruth Arms Bella Arrese Idenya Bala-Mehta Adam Cyzner Owen Forbes Milly Hopkins Yun Huynh Isabella Koz Sara Mangelsdorf Miles Miller Ava Nederlander Tanvi Punja Natalia Rueda Yasemin Schmitt Nick Sng Sean Stentson Alex Turtil
Art Directors Owen Forbes Isabella Koz
Poet Alice Musabe
Senior Advisor Tanvi Punja
Layout Designers Yun Huynh Yasemin Schmitt Sean Stetson Copy Editors Samuel Applegate Ruth Arms Adam Cyzner Website Manager Wing Yi Leung Equipment Manager Miles Miller
Contents Letter from the President...............................1 Letter from the Editor....................................2 Samuel Applegate..........................................3 Ruth Arms......................................................5 Bella Arrese....................................................7 Idenya Bala-Mehta.........................................9 Adam Cyzner................................................11 Owen Forbes................................................13 Milly Hopkins..............................................15 Yun Huynh...................................................17 Isabella Koz.................................................19 Sara Mangelsdorf.........................................21 Miles Miller..................................................23 Ava Nederlander...........................................25 Tanvi Punja..................................................27 Natalia Rueda...............................................29 Yasemin Schmitt..........................................31 Nick Sng............................... .......................33 Sean Stetson.................................................35 Alex Turtil....................................................37 .
Behind the Scenes........................................39 Poem: Reincarnation Into Birds...................41
Letter from the President Dear Readers, Welcome to the inaugural issue of the WesPhoto Magazine! This is a unique period in time for us to begin our magazine as we begin to see the long-term affects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our campus community and around the world. It is most fitting that during these uncertain times, we present an issue celebrating the beauty and wonders of travel, bringing us back to a time when it was much easier to navigate from place to place. Each successive issue hereafter will have the focus of a particular topic wherein photographs are presented relating to that topic. WesPhoto is a community of photographers, designers, and editors that meet to discuss their interests and passion for photography. Given the popularity of photography at Wesleyan, and the enormous talent pool on campus, I had always dreamed of starting a club to support these interests. The response has been heartwarming. Our Fall 2021 issue would not have been possible without our incredible, dedicated team. A huge thank you to everyone involved in the creation of this magazine. WesPhoto Magazine’s mission is to provide a space and opportunity for members of the Wesleyan community who want to be involved with photography and magazine design. Please reach out if you are interested in joining us. Happy reading and enjoy! Sincerely, Ava Nederlander ‘22 Founder/President
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Letter Letter from from the the Editor Editor Dear Readers, It is our pleasure to share with you the talent of our Wesleyan photographers in the first issue of the WesPhoto Magazine! As one of the leaders of this new group, we have been searching for ways to foster photography skills and opportunities for a collective of students coming from all levels of experience. We have chosen a printed magazine as the best manner to showcase their journeys working in this artistic discipline. Photography has become an integral aspect of my life, an outlet where I can express my creative passion when I’m out in the world. I appreciate the medium of photography in allowing me to capture important parts of my life, particularly to explore my subjective experience and celebrate the world around me. I am incredibly grateful to have found a community of photographers and friends with whom I can share this appreciation. We would like to give warm thanks to all the photographers who contributed their work to this issue! Also, an enormous thanks to our magazine layout and editorial team, who have applied their creativity and time to make the magazine the best it could be. We are eager to see how the Wesleyan Photography Club grows in the coming years, and hope you enjoy our magazine! Sincerely, Alex Turtil ‘24 Editor-in-Chief
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Samuel Applegate 3
(Above) Wormhole; Olympus TG5, October 3, 2021, Middletown, CT
I have discovered through photography that there are a million small, different moments in every day that we would otherwise forget if we did not preserve them. It is often said that a picture is worth a million words, and while I am not sure of that, I do know that there is at least one story to every photograph. That is why I focus on taking photographs of the small things that we would otherwise miss: a maple samara caught in a tree, dewdrops on a beetle, a landscape of moss in the forest. These things, while visible to the human eye, are rarely noticed, and each of them tells a story. All my photographs in this issue are directly or indirectly related to this semester’s theme of travel. Some of the photos were taken while abroad. Dewpoint was taken on a trip to Costa Rica, and the beetle’s vibrant colors display the tropical locale. Sailboat and Lichen Landscape were both taken on a recent trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, and the latter shows a familiar sight of moss in the forest in more detail; Sailboat displays a mode of travel across the rocky Maine coast. Other photographs were taken more locally, both Wormhole and Flight Delayed were taken on the Wesleyan campus, but they relate to themes of travel. Flight Delayed shows the interrupted path of a maple samara on its journey to become a sapling, while Wormhole shows what appears to be a portal to a mysterious realm in an alien landscape but is really just a bug’s burrow on the surface of the bark of a tree.
(Above) Lichen Landscape; Olympus TG5, July 31, 2019, Bar Harbor, ME
(Above) Flight Delayed; Olympus TG5, October 3, 2021, Middletown, CT
(Right) Dewpoint; Samsung Galaxy 9, August 30, 2019, Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio, Costa Rica
(Right) Sailboat; Samsung Galaxy 9, August 21, 2021, Bar Harbor, ME
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Bella Arrese 7
For me, photography is an unparalleled creative outlet that allows individuals to express themselves through their own unique lens. It is a way to capture time, experience, and adventure. Since I was young, photography has been one of my most treasured pastimes. People photography, landscape photography, and sports photography tend to be the areas of photography I delve into most. The collection of photographs I chose for this magazine edition are some of my personal favorites taken from around the world. As a whole, they share pops of color, deep texture, and space, leaving a blank story for the viewer’s LQWHUSUHWDWLRQ 0DQ\ RI WKH SLHFHV DOVR VKDUH PRYHPHQW RI ƓJXUHV intricate architecture, and bright blue skies. I paired the city streets of London with rooftop views and peeks into the museums of Paris. I also supplemented my collection with two outliers: the Grand Canyon at sundown and Windansea Beach, La Jolla, California at prime sunshine hour (my favorite place on earth and thus, my favorite and the easiest place for me to photograph). Pre-pandemic (mainly during the summer of 2017), I was fortunate enough to do a lot of traveling with my family and capture these beautiful sites. It is a gift to be able to look back at these moments in time and share them with others. In the future, I hope to continue to build upon my “travel” collection and experiment with the varying elements of photography.
(Above) Canyon Sundown; Apple iPhone 6s, July 27, 2017, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
(Above) Hidden Eiffel; Canon EOS Rebel T3i, August 10, 2017, Paris, FR
(Above) London Blue Skies; Canon EOS Rebel T3i, August 11, 2017, London, UK
(Below) Museum Movement 2; Canon EOS Rebel T3i, August 11, 2017, London, UK
(Above) Museum Movement 1; Canon EOS Rebel T3i, August 10, 2017, Paris, FR
(Below) Colors and Geometrics; Canon EOS Rebel T3i, August 11, 2017, London, UK
(Below) Paris; Canon EOS Rebel T3i, August 10, 2017, Paris, FR
Idenya Bala-Mehta 9
Wildlife and nature photography always has a hint of spontaneity. Patience, I learned, is a huge part of the process. How long do I wait ZLWK P\ OHQV IRFXVHG RQ WKH EULJKW EOXH RFHDQ RI WKH 3DFLƓF 1RUWKZHVW EHIRUH WKH SHUIHFWO\ GLVWDQFHG VHDJXOO ŴLHV LQWR WKH IUDPH" +RZ FDQ , capture the grandeur of a Western Diamond-Back rattlesnake before it VOLWKHUV IDU IURP VLJKW" 2EVHUYDWLRQ DQG DZDUHQHVV LV HYHU\WKLQJ 6LOHQWO\ walking up to a white-tailed deer, waiting for it to glance right through the lens of my camera is exhilarating. Photography is so much more than the camera. It’s the perfect way to complement my love for travel and the outdoors. When I see a photo I’ve taken in the past, I’m transported back in time. I remember the environment I was in, the company I was with, and the life that ƓOOHG WKH DUHD ,ōP UHPLQGHG RI WKH IXOƓOOPHQW , IHOW E\ EHLQJ LQ QDWXUH Photography is a great way of preserving these memories. The photographs I’ve displayed were taken from different parts of the country, each with their own unique ecosystem. I look forward to exploring the East Coast of America with my camera, an area of the country I am less familiar with!
(Above) Heaven on Earth; Canon EOS T3i, July 6, 2017, Glacier Bay, AK
(Above) Clinging Crab; Canon EOS T3i, July 13, 2021, Yachats, OR (Below) Dragon Eye; Canon EOS T3i, July 9, 2019, Sinton, TX
(Above) Canyon Deep; Canon EOS T3i, April 22, 2021, Big Bend National Park, TX
(Above) His Eye on the Sparrow; Canon EOS T3i, March 25, 2020, Katy, TX (Above) Cliffside; Canon EOS T3i, July 14, 2021, Newport, OR
(Below) Diamond Back; Canon EOS T3i, July 8, 2019, Sinton, TX
(Right) Deer Gaze; Canon EOS T3i, July 12, 2021, Newport, OR
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Isabella Koz
While the theme of travel indicates an extended journey away from one’s pre-existing home base, my selection of photographs does not exclusively align with this concept. Rather, the photos I have chosen reflect an internal exhibition of travel, including some visuals away from my hometown of Los Angeles, and others taken within 5 miles of my house. My personal experience with photography developed from taking portraits of my friends and family as a means of experimentation to an adventure-intertwined outlet with which I developed my style in architectural photography. Exploring— whether in Los Angeles or beyond—is synonymous with travel in my experience. In other words, I see the concept of travel as merely a headspace that can materialize in any environment. For me, that can mean hopping on the Metro, getting off at a random stop, and acquainting myself with that respective pocket of LA through photography and aimless exploration. With a camera in-hand, one can recreate the tranquility, excitement, and fulfillment that stems from absorbing the newness of a given space. Eyes widen, heart beats with vigor. I can only hope to recreate my enamorment with these environments to the viewer through the limitations and strategies of the frame.
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(Below) Frozen Road; Canon EOS 5D Mark II, January 16, 2016, Aspen, CO
(Above) Festivities; Canon EOS Rebel SL1, May 23, 2018, Los Angeles, CA
(Above) Tiered Towers; Canon EOS Rebel SL1, November 3, 2018, Los Angeles, CA
(Below) Slivers; Canon EOS Rebel SL1, April 6, 2018, Los Angeles, CA
(Above) Crouched; iPhone 11, June 3, 2021, Los Angeles, CA
(Above) Observer; Leica Q (Typ 116), January 4, 2015, White Sands National Park, NM
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Miles Miller
Travel has always been important to me, especially with my family. My photos capture Mammoth Lakes, California, a home away from home. I go up there multiple times a year with my family and once a year with my entire extended family. That’s 15 to 16 of us piled into one house (with at least one dog). The town is meant for skiing, but I personally love the summer more. My paternal grandparents have been going there with their children for ages, and it’s now been passed down from their children to my generation. 0\ SKRWRV DUH VSHFLƓFDOO\ IURP WKH GULYH WR 0DPPRWK DQG D KLNH , GLG ZLWK P\ IDPLO\ 7KLV ZDV GXULQJ WKH VXPPHU RI DQG ZDV WKH ƓUVW time we had left our home city since the pandemic had started. It was amazing to get out, and more importantly, to go to a place with a lot of sentimental value. The hike felt even more isolated than ever due to COVID. I tried to capture that isolation in a couple of my photos, of small objects in larger spaces. This idea can be seen in the photo RI D IDPLO\ ZDONLQJ DKHDG RI PH DQG RI WKH PDQ ƓVKLQJ DORQH ,Q WKH drives to and from Mammoth Lakes, I tried to practice framing with different barriers and lines. 6LQFH WKHVH SKRWRV ZHUH DOO FDSWXUHG RQ ƓOP WKH\ ZHUH KDQG SULQWHG ZKLFK LV DQ DVSHFW RI ƓOP SKRWRJUDSK\ , UHDOO\ HQMR\ 7KH SK\VLFDOLW\ RI WKH SURFHVV LQLWLDOO\ GUHZ PH WR ƓOP SKRWRJUDSK\ DQG , KDYH ORYHG exploring it since I started. Out of all the art forms I have tried, the SURFHVV RI ƓOP SKRWRJUDSK\ KDV EHHQ WKH PRVW VDWLVI\LQJ
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(Left) Desolate; Canon EOS Rebel G, July 3, 2020, Mammoth Lakes, CA (Right) Waiting Game; Canon EOS Rebel G, July 3, 2020, Mammoth Lakes, CA (Below) Tail; Canon EOS Rebel G, July 3, 2020, Mammoth Lakes, CA
(Above) I Wish I Had a Bigger Lens; Canon EOS Rebel G, July 3, 2020, Mammoth Lakes, CA
(Below) Irony; Canon EOS Rebel G, July 4, 2020, Yosemite, CA
(Above) On the Way; Canon EOS Rebel G, July 1, 2020, CA
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Sean Stetson
(Above) Golden Hour Bonding; iPhone 12, May 21, 2021, New Haven, CT
I love photography because of how accessible it is. You don’t need to buy thousand-dollar equipment or to travel to the far corners of the Earth. All photography takes is the ability to look at something ordinary with an unordinary perspective. It can be so easy to think that other parts of the world are so much more beautiful and interesting than where you are that you completely ignore the beauty around you. Photography has really helped me see and appreciate the beauty in the world around me, in the “ordinary”.
As other people have mentioned, the coronavirus has made us value traveling so much more. Happy as a Clam represents not just traveling, but traveling with friends. Especially since this was taken during the last summer before college, this memory and picture is even more special. Although as a family we are not able to travel very frequently, I was extremely lucky to join a very active and outdoorfocused Boy Scout Troop. Some of my favorite pictures included here, namely Liquid Sunshine, Verdant Serenity, and Whiteout in the White Mountains, have been on trips with the Boy Scouts. These pictures preserve (Right) some of my most Happy as a Clam; iPhone 12, treasured experiences in August 11, 2021, a timeless format. Guilford, CT
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(Above) Whiteout in the White Mountains; iPhone 6s, February 16, 2020, Lincoln, NH
(Above) Fall Glory; iPhone 12, October 21, 2021, Riverton, CT
(Right) Liquid Sunshine; iPhone 6s, August 6, 2019, Lajas PR
(Above) Verdant Serenity; iPhone 6s, August 8, 2019, Orocovis, PR
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Behind the Scenes Throughout the semester we host various workshops on campus and meet once every week as a community to share our work.
Photos, starting top L clockwise, by Ava Nederlander, Miles Miller, Ava Nederlander, and Nick Sng
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Photos, starting top L clockwise, by Yun Huynh, Ava Nederlander, Nick Sng, Miles Miller, Nick Sng, and Ava Nederlander
Reincarnation Into Birds Saturday afternoon, after hustling I find myself drawn by my window view Birds flying all over from one tree to another wishing I was a monk, that enough concentration Would teleport me to you Or that horror movies were real That your body would crawl from my Snapchat Screen and kiss my forehead then hug me Saturday afternoon, after hustling I find myself drawn by my window view Watching leaves bounce by wind waves Hoping the wind can echo your voice to me That our chemistry would transcend miles So I can be mesmerized by your aroma Hoping that the waves can align our time zones Then, we can at least exist simultaneously in a dream. Saturday afternoon, after hustling I find myself drawn by my window view Watching the gorgeous sun set Like how you used to fall asleep on my chest With your heartbeat slowly slowing down Arousing a temptation to stop time And freeze in the moment peaceful together or fast forward us reincarnating into birds! Alice Musabe ‘22
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Photo by Owen Forbes
