By Kristen Bossio '16
It’s not uncommon to see familiar faces everywhere on Siena College’s small, tight-knit campus. It would be strange to go somewhere and not smile and wave to a friend or faculty member along the way. With the “Siena Family Photos” project, this community feel was taken one step further. Everyone at Siena College became family.
School of Liberal Arts Dean Janet Shideler, Ph.D. initiated the project last semester. Inspired by photographer Richard Rinaldi’s “Touching Strangers,” project, Shideler wanted to document the Siena community through a similar photography project. The idea was to stop people on campus who may or may not know each other and group them in a “family portrait.”
Assistant Professor of Creative Arts Liz Blum, MFA and two students, Brittany Danko ’14 and Mayowa Adelugba ’14 brought Shideler’s idea to life. During a two-week span, they captured hundreds of images of Siena students, faculty, administration and employees posed for photos you’d likely see in a family album.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a cook in the kitchen or in facilities shoveling snow – we’re all connected and we’re all family,” said Blum.
Blum, Danko, and Adelugba went around campus individually at different times of day to capture the photos. They stopped people randomly on their way to class and asked them to participate.
“People had mixed reactions when asked to pose with strangers,” said Danko. “Some were open to the idea and wanted to help the project along because they thought it was an interesting idea; others were more reserved and did not fully grasp the concept.”
Ultimately, the three chose thirty-five photos that they thought best represented the project’s goal of demonstrating that Siena College is a community that cares about its members. Blum hopes to grow and expand the project by recruiting more photographers to capture the College’s community spirit in family pictures guaranteed to make you smile and realize that when you’re at Siena, you’re family.
