Let’s get this thing started...



Hello and welcome. My name is Evan Finley and this is the inaugural post for this platform that will be used to document and share what I am seeing and learning as I go through the photojournalism course at Linn Benton Community College (LBCC.)

First, lets start with a bit about me:

I am a born-’n-raised Oregonian; I have always called somewhere in the Willamette Valley home. I consider my self blessed to grow up in such a beautiful place with divers geographies in a relatively compressed area. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamt of being a photographer. I used to flip through National Geographic’s for hours and pore over the photos. I was drawn to the idea of traveling to far off places and learning about the strange, exciting, and different. I have done a fair bit of traveling and I have taken many thousands of photos, but I think I have always been more of a picture taker, than a picture sharer--the latter is a skill that I am continuing to work on and grow in. 


The Taj Mahal, 2013-ish

Being a "professional photographer” has been a dream of mine for a long time, one that I still haven’t quite found a way to bring about. You see, I don’t want to take just any photo someone will give me money for; I want them to be of subjects I find interesting and meaningful. Turns out, there are a lot of people who want my photos, they just can’t pay for them... So my idealism tends to move “pro-photographer” on and off the back-burner. Conveniently, I have other interests. 

After working as a carpenter for 15+ years, I decided to go back to School. I didn’t start out wanting or planning to go to college--I didn’t want or plan on working construction for so long, but the point came when I felt strongly I needed to make a shift. So I enrolled at LBCC. I have enjoyed and hated college at the same time. Pandemics and existential crises and the love of new information have kept me company. The effort seems to be paying off: after Spring Term, of this year, I will be pretty close to wrapping up my Oregon transfer degree at LBCC and then it is off to the next thing. I have applied for the Social Work program at Portland State University--so we will see if that comes together... In any case, psychology and social services are the fields that draw me the most. 

In the mean time, I am taking the before mentioned Photojournalism course that promoted this blog post. The main reason that I chose this course is I wanted to take a course that would allow me to take photos with the time I set aside for school (just being honest) but the close second, is that I want to learn to be a better story teller-- both with images and the written (or typed...) word. I have taken a lot of photos, a handful of them are even pretty or interesting, but I haven’t put a lot of effort in to developing the skill of “documentary photography.” I did go on a two week trip/photography workshop, with Photographers With Out  Boarders, that was dedicated to story telling, but that showed me how much there is to learn. I am hoping to learn a bit of it in the course. 

My learning goals for the Photojournalism course are: 

  • Become a better storyteller!
  • Be more aware and comfortable with the ethics of photojournalism (you know: taking pictures of strangers and how I can use those pictures-- editing guidelines too.)
  • Maintain an excuse to take photos and become more intentional with the pictures I take.

Gili Air, Bali, Indonesia,  2015



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