MPW.77 - Issue III

RANGEFINDER

Volume 77 - Issue 3

MPW77 photographers listen to faculty member Randy Olson's talk during the nightly presentations. Photo by Yong Li Xuan | MPW.77, Union

Brian Kratzer, director of the Missouri Photo Workshop, gives a presentation to Union High School students on Monday. Photo by Yong Li Xuan | MPW.77, Union

KRATZER'S CLASS: A VISIT TO UNION HIGH SCHOOL

By Sophie Ayres

On Monday in a dimly lit auditorium, Director of the Missouri Photo Workshop Brian Kratzer led a presentation explaining the workshop to Union High journalism students. The students dedicated their fifth and sixth class periods to the presentation, answering questions about their town and looking at archival images.

“I’m going to talk about all walks of journalism, whether you love the written word, photojournalism, documentary film, social media,” Kratzer said. “Do any of these things get you excited?”

A kid nods in the audience.

“What do you like?” Kratzer asked. “Photojournalism? Awesome, very cool.”

The presentation continued with a short history into the first MPW, which was formed in Columbia, Missouri. Kratzer explained that 38 photographers will be investigating the student’s town this week, and they will probably see them around (or their parents will).

“What happens on a Friday night socially in this town?” Kratzer asked.

“Football,” the audience agreed.

“So how do you tell the story of your Friday night football team?” Kratzer asked. “Is it just the action on the field? No. What else is there?”

“Cheerleaders,” a girl in front answered.

“And what about them?”

“They cheer for the football team.”

“And they just show up and cheer and go home?”

“No.”

“Well, how’d you get there? Practice?”

“Five times a week.”

“And how many women are on the team?”

“14. And then we have a JV team.”

“So, we’ve suddenly got way off the action of the action on the football field, right? We find out that one of those 14 women are showing up to those four practices, maybe five a week. And then you wonder, of those 14 people, who has an interesting story about them? Is it expensive to be apart of this?”

“Yeah, $1,400 a year.”

“$1,400 a year, how are you going to pay for that? So now I’m going to school, I got a job, and I’m doing cheer, somehow balancing all of that. And now, it’s suddenly a story about somebody who’s trying to balance a million things in their life, right?”

And suddenly, the picture story emerges. Documentary picture work goes beyond the basic action on the field, and into the car rides and the movie dates and the real life of the players. The Union High journalism students are working on the yearbook and sports photography this year.

“As we know, connections lead to connections, lead to connections,” Kratzer said. “That’s a very important lesson.”

Photographers in Training

Stretch those photographer muscles, because today, MPW 77's photographers and faculty talk about the different stages of crafting a story. This doesn't come, evidently, without breaking a sweat.

Artifacts to the Past in Union's City Hall

By Sophie Ayers

Union City Hall houses some of the town’s first artifacts- including aged bottled, a weathered dictionary, and photographs of buildings now torn down and replaced.

City Clerk Jonita Copeland remembers when she used to work at Fricks Market, a town staple that has since been replaced by the supermarket chain Schnucks. Where Union Hall now sits on East Locust Street, Fricks used to be, before it moved to its new spot on Central Avenue and was replaced by Schnucks. Copeland jokes that she’s now back in the same spot she did years ago.

Old photographs on the wall capture an old brick and mortar look to the old city hall. In 2020, the new structure was built. Now, the old artifacts in the council chamber serve as a reminder of how much the city has grown.

“I just love coming back to my hometown, my streets, my gas station,” Copeland said.

Deputy City Clerk Jacki Welker has fond memories of Founders Day in Union. Founders Day commemorates the inception of the town, but since a specific date isn’t nailed down as the official founding, it is normally celebrated in June. Welker lived in Union for 22 years.

“I remember Founders Day 2015, when it was uptown and we had carnival rides,” Welker said.

Finance Officer Heather Keith loved watching her son play in the Union High football games, and hearing the music of the band. Copeland’s granddaughters are in the Union High marching band, playing the clarinet under Friday night lights.

Within a glass box lies an article snippet from Kim Parks, titled “Street Names Reflect Union’s Past.” Many of Union’s streets are named after former presidents (Kennedy, Eisenhower, Hoover, Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Garfield and Grant).

Most streets in the other parts of town are attributed to historic family names, such as Garrick Place near the Grace Family Church.

Welker and Copeland remember the late Bob Hansen, an important figure who conducted all of the title and abstracting in Union alongside his brother. Copeland remembers Hansen as a very involved member of the community, and he is cited in several artifacts.

“It’s a sense of pride to know the history of Union,” Keith said.

North side of Courthouse Square | Courtesy photo

Fourth of July Festivities, 1906. West side of the Courthouse. | Courtesy photo

"Miz Fanny" | Photo by Dallas Kinney |MPW.18, Louisiana

From left, Director Emeriti David Rees and Jim Curley chat about pitches with faculty member Denny Simmons.

Letters from Jim Curley— "Miz Fanny"

Like many of you photographers, Dallas Kinney was somewhere between nervous and scared out of his mind as he waited to pitch his story idea to MPW faculty that day in 1966. He was 29-years-old; admittedly green and just recently hired at the Dubuque Telegraph Herald; and sent by his photo editor, James Geladas, to learn a thing or two at MPW.

But he was smart enough to arrive in Louisiana a day early and armed with one question. By his account he had coffee at every establishment in town that served coffee, asking the same thing: “Who’s the most important person in Louisiana?” One answer particularly intrigued him. “The owner of a small diner told me that he considered Miz Fanny to be Louisiana’s most important citizen for Miz Fanny keeps Louisiana clean. When I asked him to elaborate, he told me the story of this elderly Black lady who had been cleaning Louisiana’s businesses and offices…forever. I then asked him what she looked like. He replied, ‘Hell, I don’t know. I haven’t seen her for years. She works at night when everyone is asleep.’” After tracking Miz Fanny down, and getting her blessing, he was sure he had his story. But then he had to sell the idea to his faculty.

Kinney vividly remembers and recounts what happened next. “10:20 AM, I’m facing the “half-circle” of Missouri Photo Workshop faculty: Angus McDougal, W.E. Garrett, Howard Chapnick, Delan Haun, Peggy Sargent, and yes, Cliff Edom. It’s story approval time. God help me. My presentation was brilliant…truly. I really believed. When I finished my impassioned plea there was silence…make that dead silence…for what seemed two lifetimes for a naïve, novice picture taker. Then Angus McDougal stood up…more silence…fixed his gaze on my ashen face and said, ‘Good story.’ More silence. ‘You’d…better…do…one…fine…job!’”

“From that moment I began to learn about the process—the very heart, mind, body and soul—of making a ‘picture story.’ It was epiphany time! My perceived executioners—the MPW faculty—morphed into some of the most giving people it has been my pleasure to encounter, in or out of journalism. I could still give you direct quotes on encouraging and critical comments made by each member of the faculty.”

Kinney went on to staff jobs at The Palm Beach Post, The Miami Herald and The Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1969, while at the Palm Beach Post, he began a two and one-half month project to document migrant workers in Florida. His efforts were recognized with the 1970 Pulitzer Prize—the first awarded for a series of photographs. That project also earned The Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism.

In 2003, nearly forty years after he made those photos of Miz Fanny, MPW.55 returned for a second time to Louisiana. The 1966 exhibit photos were shown along with the work from that week. And Kinney’s photos brought tears to the eyes of a granddaughter who had never before seen pictures of her grandmother.

Love at First Sight

At MPW, one mystery figure saves the day, every day...