As part of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies’s Sarahfest, pieces by Jon Langford and Alysia Steele, local photographer and University professor, will be on display at the Powerhouse.
Alysia Steele is an assistant professor of multiple-platform journalism. Steele, who has been a photographer for over 30 years, received her Masters of Art in photography from Ohio University in 2010, and has worked on numerous projects around the world. She shot documentary work for Habitat for Humanity, as well as for The Columbus Dispatch in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. Her photography and picture editing has won her numerous awards.
Steele said she began her interest in photography when she was about 15 years old.
“I have been a photojournalist, picture editor, multimedia producer and deputy director of photography for over 19 years,” Steele said.
Steele has wanted to be a photographer ever since she could first remember. To her, any other career path was simply unimaginable. Not only is Steele now an assistant professor but she says she is still a student.
Steele’s 2015 book, “Delta Jewels,” focuses on the lives of church mothers and elders from the Mississippi Delta and surrounding areas. Oral histories and formal portraits of these women, who lived under the harshest of the Jim Crow era’s conditions and the Civil Rights Movement, were taken. Part of this collection includes Myrlie Evers, a civil rights activist and former chairwoman of the NAACP.
“In my humble opinion, anyone who thinks they don’t have any more to learn in photojournalism is arrogant,” Steele said. “We should always aim to learn as we go.”
According to Steele, the best inspiration is found in everyday life.
“When I was younger and impressionable, I thought the best photojournalism opportunities were working abroad on war or conflict photography.”
Her past work has soon her attainment of that goal, but as time progressed, Steele’s focus began to change.
“As I’ve aged and worked abroad, I think the most compelling stories for me were stories in my community,” Steele said.
Steele said she especially enjoys talking to people face to face because she believes other people have wonderful faces and expressions, each with their own story to tell.
“Appreciating that everyone has a story worth telling is so much more rewarding,” she said. “I look at local stories with particular interest.”
When Steele isn’t working as a photographer, she enjoys her free time, like many hard-working college students.
“In my spare time, you can find me hibernating at home,” Steel said. “I prefer peace and quiet on my screened-in porch, listening to music, drinking scotch and reading a book – basically, hiding from everyone – and it takes a lot to pull me away from that porch, let me tell you.”
Steele’s photographs, along with Langford’s art, will be on display at the Powerhouse until Sarahfest’s last day, September 27.
