Category Archives: Special Programs

Hampshire College Professor and Author Dr. Michael Lesy Speaks

Long Time Coming by Michael LesyDr. Michael Lesy will give a lecture at The Williston Northampton School’ for the Photographers’ Lecture Series in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center on April 1, 2011, at 6:30 p.m.

Lesy is a writer and professor of literary journalism at Hampshire College. His books, which combine historical photographs with his own writing, include Wisconsin Death Trip, Time Frames: The Meaning of Family Pictures, Bearing Witness: A Photographic Chronicle of American Life, and Dreamland: America at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century. He was recently interviewed by the BBC radio on the Great Depression and his books have been reviewed The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Guardian. In his book Long Time Coming, Lesy gathered a collection of 400 photographs by searching more than 150,000 photographs in the Farm Security Administration’s Documentary Photography Program archives at the Library of Congress.

Remaining lecturers in this year’s series are scheduled as follows:

Thatcher Cook, April 18

All presentations, which are free and open to the public, take place in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. Full biographies of the visiting lecturers can be found at http://www.williston.com/photographers.

Photographer Ken Sklute Speaks at Williston

ken sklutePhotographer Ken Sklute will give a lecture at The Williston Northampton School’s Photographers’ Lecture Series in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center on March 1, 2011, at 6:30 p.m.

Ken Sklute has been passionate about photographing both people and drag racing for 32 years. His images have been published in National Dragster Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN the Magazine. He has received numerous awards, including Drag Racing Photographer of the Year from CompetitionPlus.com, Wedding Photographer of the Year and Photojournalist of the Year from the Professional Photographers of California, as well as receiving 13 Kodak Gallery awards and 14 Fuji Masterpiece Awards. He was also awarded Photographer of the Year and Best in Show from the Western States Regional Print Competition. Ken spends much of his time teaching and lecturing both nationally and internationally and has been honored as one of Canon’s Explorers of Light, a designation shared by only 48 photographers worldwide.

Remaining Lecturers in this year’s series are scheduled as follows:

Michael Lesy, April 1

Thatcher Cook, April 18

 All presentations, which are free and open to the public, take place in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. Full biographies of the visiting lecturers can be found at www.williston.com/photographers. For more information, please call 413-529-3237. Dates are subject to change.

Photographer Vince Cianni Continues Lecture Series

vince cianniPhotographer Vince Cianni will give a lecture at The Williston Northampton School’s Photographers’ Lecture Series in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center on February 17, 2011, at 6:30 p.m.

Vincent Cianni’s documentary photography explores community and memory, the human condition, and the use of image and text. His photographic project and book We Skate Hardcore is an eight-year study of urban latino youth in NYC, published by NYU Press and the Center for Documentary Studies. The photographs from We Skate Hardcore have been widely published in magazines and journals including Double Take, Aperture, The New Yorker, and La Fotografia. Cianni’s new documentary project, ‘Gays in the Military: How America Thanked Me,’ explores how the lives of many gay and lesbian service members have been affected by homophobia in the military and by the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. His photographs have been exhibited in many museums including LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), MFAH (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Cianni teaches photography at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

Upcoming Lecturers in this year’s series are scheduled as follows:

Ken Sklute, March 1

Michael Lesy, April 1

Thatcher Cook, April 18

All presentations, which are free and open to the public, take place in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. Full biographies of the visiting lecturers can be found at http://www.williston.com/photographers.

The Photographers’ Lecture Series features internationally acclaimed photographers who present and discuss their work to the school and community. Advanced photography students will have the opportunity to participate in a class taught by the photographers preceding the public lecture. Past visiting photographers have included photojournalist Yunghi Kim, who is known for her coverage of international conflicts; Sean Hemmerle, an architectural and landscape photographer; and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Ed Keating.

For more information, please call 413-529-3237. Dates are subject to change.

Photographer Michael Itkoff Begins Lecture Series

michael itkoffPhotographer Michael Itkoff will give a lecture at The Williston Northampton School’s Photographers’ Lecture Series in the Dodge Room in the Reed Campus Center on January 25, 2011, at 6:30 p.m.

Michael Itkoff is a photographer and a founding editor of Daylight Magazine, a photography publication dedicated to publishing in-depth photographic essays on important issues of the day. In his photography, Itkoff captures his subjects in a documentary style by investigating topics ranging from demolition derbies to portrait studies. In 2009, Charta Books published Street Portraits, Itkoff’s exploration of the artifice of portraiture. Itkoff’s photographs are in public and private collections in the United States, and he has been a recipient of the Howard Chapnick Grant for the Advancement of Photojournalism, a Creative Artists Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Arts Council, and a Puffin Foundation Grant. In 2010, Itkoff received an MFA from the ICP-Bard program in 2010.

Upcoming Lecturers in this year’s series are scheduled as follows:
Vince Cianni, February 17
Ken Sklute, March 1
Michael Lesy, April 1
Thatcher Cook, April 18

All presentations, which are free and open to the public, take place in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. Complete information about the lecture series and program can be found at http://www.williston.com/photographers.

For more information, please call 413-529-3237. Dates are subject to change.

Journalist Thomas French Completes Writers’ Series

thomas frenchThe 13th Writers’ Workshop Series ends with author and journalist Thomas French on November 30, 2010, 7:00 p.m. in the Dodge Room in the Reed Campus Center. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Thomas French was a feature journalist for the St. Petersburg Times where he wrote seminal pieces such as ‘A Cry In The Night’, a story that “made a model for the rest of us to follow,” according to Washington Post reporter Anne Hull.

In 2009, his book Zoo Story was published. Based on six years of research, the book chronicles the inner world of Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo by following a cast of animals through their adventures of captivity and addressing the moral complexities of zoo life. He has appeared on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” and most recently on the “Colbert Report.” In 2008, French returned to his alma mater Indiana University where he has since served on the faculty of the Indiana University School of Journalism.

Continue reading