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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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prof. jared ragland featured in exhibition at alabama contemporary art center

August 09, 2024

Jared Ragland, Phenix City, Russell County, Alabama—Michael

Seven pictures from Assistant Professor Jared Ragland’s ongoing project, What Has Been Will Be Again, each part of The Do Good Fund collection, are on view in As Pretty Does at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Mobile, Ala., Aug. 9-Oct. 19, 2024. Curated by Micah Mermilliod, the exhibition also features photographs by Lucinda Bunnen, Keith Calhoun, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Jill Frank, Carlos Gustavo, Betty Press, and Mark Steinmetz.

From the press release:
Growing up in the Deep South often feels like growing up in a different time or country. The unique landscape, history and ways of being stand apart from the monolith of mainstream culture. Viewed from the outside as backwards and lacking; stereotypes of southerness are inert, and fail to include the South’s true complexity, enduring charm, and diversity. The reality of the South is lived, active and chosen every day. There’s a colloquialism here that “pretty is as pretty does,” or in other words, pleasant behavior always outweighs pleasant looks.

In this exhibition, featuring work from eight photographers collected by The Do Good Fund of Columbus, GA, each artist captures what we do—a farmer fashioning a scarecrow for his garden, parading dancers, or a brass band performing for a church service. These images convey the ways we live, with intricate layers of identity and belonging woven into the fabric of Southern life. These are decisive moments. Intimate portraits and landscapes alike embody the spirit of the South as lived and living.

As Pretty Does celebrates ways of being, the familiar and unexpected alike. Through the lenses of these photographers, history and modernity intersect, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary.  While not always traditionally beautiful, the allure, honesty, and unpredictability found in these everyday moments resonates like jazz through humid Southern air.

Curated by Micah Mermilliod in partnership with The Do Good Fund. The Do Good Fund is a collection of contemporary, post World War II photographs capturing the rich culture in the Southeastern United States. Since 2012 this public based Georgia charity has collected works from Guggenheim Fellows and emerging regional artists alike, and stands as one of the most complete artistic views of modern Southern living.

For more info, visit the ACAC website.