recent highlights:
- bear lake assessment project opens
- senior lele bonizzi wins cpoy award
- usuphoto at spe w/sw
- alumna olivia ethington on midwest nice
- prof. soukhakian opens show at material slc
bear lake needs assessment project opens at usu
November 4, 2024
Utah State University photography students, under the guidance of Assistant Professor of Photography Jared Ragland, are playing a key role to document challenges facing Bear Lake.
The Bear Lake Needs Assessment Documentation and Visualization Project blends scientific research with visual storytelling to raise awareness of critical issues surrounding Bear Lake’s natural resources, land use and human impact. Photographs from the project will be exhibited from Nov. 4-Dec. 13 in the Tippetts and Eccles Galleries at USU’s Chase Fine Arts Center.
The project is one of 10 Bear Lake Needs Assessment research projects funded by grants from the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands and administered by USU’s Institute for Land, Water and Air (ILWA) to study critical issues within Bear Lake and the lands around it.
Bear Lake is unique in the region as one of just three large natural lakes in Utah. Over the past decade, visitation to Bear Lake, located on the Idaho-Utah border, has surged by 300%, amplifying concerns over development, water management and environmental sustainability. This has created additional challenges for the lake and those who maintain the land.
Through more than 20 field visits in 2024, Ragland and his students in the ART 3830 Documentary and Visual Storytelling class have worked with local stakeholders and Bear Lake Needs Assessment Project research teams. Ragland and his students have created a visual record that reflects the lake’s unique agriculture, infrastructure, recreation and ecological features while highlighting the efforts of USU researchers and community partners to safeguard the lake’s future.
The student photographers are: Lele Bonizzi, Eli Clare, Anastasia Coleman, Kennedy Fry, Annora Madden, and Kennedy McLeod. Additional contributions were made by recent USU BFA alumni Olivia Ethington (’24) and Kenzli Pendleton (’24).
Following the exhibition, select images from the documentary project will be featured in ILWA’s annual Report to the Governor and Legislature on Utah’s Land, Water and Air, and included in a comprehensive report to address the lake’s long-term management and support informed decision-making for future policies. An archive containing several hundred digital images will be archived by ILWA and provide a lasting resource for research and advocacy.
“At USU Photo, we are guided in our belief in photography’s critical role in contemporary culture,” Ragland said. “Through the making, learning and sharing of images, we encourage students to utilize photography as a tool for compassionate citizenship, meaningful storytelling, and impactful social change.
The Bear Lake Needs Assessment Documentation and Visualization Project has embodied these goals, Ragland said.
An opening reception is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7.
usuphoto at spe w/sw regional conference
October 18, 2024
Lele Bonizzi presents their BFA thesis project during the SPE W/SW Regional Conference
USUPhoto had a great couple days at the Society for Photographic Education West/Southwest Regional Conference in Ogden, with outstanding research presentations by Professor Fazilat Soukhakian, BFA senior Lele Bonizzi, and alumna Bailey Rigby (BFA ’23).
The photo program was also well represented in the annual conference exhibition, which featured photographs by professors Soukhakian and Ragland, as well as Bonizzi and fellow BFA student Annora Madden. Bonizzi, Madden, Eli Clare, and first year graduate student Cooper Lott also participated in portfolio reviews.
alumna olivia ethington selected for midwest nice arts’ storytelling exhibition
October 1, 2024
Olivia Ethington, from the series “The things to say will be there when you need them,” 2024
USU BFA Photo alumna Olivia Ethington (’24) has a photograph included in Midwest Nice Art’s latest online exhibition, “Art as Storytelling.” Juried by Aline Smithson of Lenscratch, the show reflects all facets of contemporary art, from photographs to painting to video and sculpture. “The work is personal, political, complex, and beautiful,” Smithson says. “It’s a collection of deep seeing and thinking, so important for our world today.”
The selected photograph is from Ethington’s recent BFA thesis, “The things to say will be there when you need them,” in which Ethington visually navigates her ever-shifting relationship with her grandfather who suffers from dementia. “I never know what to expect when I walk through the door. It could be a good day, and he’ll remember my name. Or maybe it will be a bad day, and he won’t use my name for fear that he will get it wrong,” Ethington writes. “The repetition of color, light, and shape throughout the pictures reflects the cyclical conversation I have with my grandpa, the gaps in sequence mimicking the gaps in memory.”
Midwest Nice Art is a collective based in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Grounded in traditional Midwestern values, the collective integrates virtual and physical practices to support emerging and underrepresented artists.
bfa senior lele bonizzi opens ‘mães unidas,’ in usu projects gallery
September 30, 2024
Lele Bonizzi, from the series, “Mães Unidas”
“Mães Unidas,” a solo exhibition by USU senior BFA photography major Lele Bonizzi is on view September 30-October 4, 2024 at USU’s Projects Gallery.
“Mães Unidas,” features photographs from Bonizzi’s 2024 USU Peak Summer Research Fellowship, where Bonizzi joined Mães Unidas (United Mothers) to work with single mothers in Porto Seguro, Brazil. Led by and composed exclusively of women, the NGO fosters a revenue model designed to directly benefit its members by offering free training in sewing and providing an avenue for self-sustenance through the sale of crafted garments and upcycled clothing. The organization also offers free food and financial support to mothers who cannot participate in the training.
“Throughout Brazil, where half of all mothers are single, women face profound challenges—including securing stable employment, accessing education and healthcare, and providing for their families,” Bonizzi says. “The prevalence of single motherhood is deeply connected to teenage pregnancy, poor education, domestic violence, and a lack of robust social support structures. Despite the critical need, these mothers often become invisible—ostracized by a society that shames them although they are a product of its very structure.”
While in Porto Seguro, Bonizzi met with more than 20 single mothers—building meaningful connections by photographing day to day activities and conducting photo-elicitation interviews (PEI). PEI is a methodology that prioritizes collaborative storytelling and deep listening to document and facilitate conversation and understanding. The method involves creating photographs with (not strictly of) participants and then engaging them in interviews and conversations about the images, eliciting responses that illuminate understanding and create more complex, nuanced narratives. Through this approach, Bonizzi’s objective was to create a narrative that transcended a singular viewpoint, fostered a collaborative exchange, amplified participant agency, and honored the community’s identity and resilience.
Eleonora Lele Bonizzi is a fine arts documentary photographer whose work explores critical social issues, with particular emphasis on LGBTQ+ rights and immigration. Currently a senior BFA major in photography at USU, Bonizzi has exhibited their work nationally and internationally. Bonizzi is the recipient of Ralph T. Clark scholarship, 2023 and 2024 USU SARG fellowships, and is a 2024 USU Peak Fellow and USU Robins Awards Talent of the Year awardee.
The USU Projects Gallery is located on the ground floor of the USU FAV building and is open Mon-Fri, 9-5.
bfa senior lele bonizzi premieres ‘what stillness tells me,’ a one-act play transforming the stage into a darkroom
August 13, 2024
“What Stillness Tells Me,” a one-act play collaboratively created by and starring USU senior BFA photography major Lele Bonizzi and USU Theatre Arts alumnus Levi Hopkins ‘24, will premiere for one-night only, August 24, 2024 at 7:30pm in USU’s Black Box Theatre.
A young man visits a photography studio for a portrait, but as the photographer asks questions, everything is not as it seems. Through the real-time creation of an historical wet-plate collodion photograph, the characters and portrait develop in tandem, revealing the vulnerabilities and complexities of who we are and how we are remembered.
With a script written by Hopkins and inspired by Roland Barthes’ seminal book, “Camera Lucida,” the show explores the correlation between photography, theatre, and death and will transform the USU Black Box Theatre into a working darkroom.
“What Stillness Tells Me,” is made with support of a USU Caine College of the Arts Summer Arts Research Grant and the USU Department of Art + Design.
Seating is limited to 90 seats and General Admission tickets are available from the USU Box Office for $15. Tickets can be purchased online at this link: USU Events.
“What Stillness Tells Me,” is intended for mature audiences (ages 13+ only) and features strong language, blue humor, and heavy subject matter.
Levi Hopkins (BFA Theatre Arts ‘24) is an actor, singer, and writer. Professional credits include: five seasons with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, the Lyric Repertory Company, and the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (The Jimmy Awards). “What Stillness Tells Me” is Hopkins’ second one-act play; in 2023 Hopkins’ “For You, Love Me,” was supported by a USU Caine College of the Arts Summer Arts Research Grant.
Eleonora Lele Bonizzi is a fine arts documentary photographer whose work explores critical social issues, with particular emphasis on LGBTQ+ rights and immigration. Currently a senior BFA major in photography at USU, Bonizzi has exhibited their work nationally and internationally. Bonizzi is the recipient of Ralph T. Clark scholarship, 2023 and 2024 USU SARG fellowships, and is a 2024 USU Peak Fellow and USU Robins Awards Talent of the Year.
Ticket info:
CCA Box Office
M-F 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
L101, Chase Fine Arts Center, USU Campus
435.797.8022 https://utahstateaggies.evenue.net/events/MCCA