Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist is next visiting Ottaway Professor
Renée Byer, who grew up in the mid-Hudson Valley and was the winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in photojournalism, will be the ninth James H. Ottaway Sr. Professor of Journalism at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
Byer is the fourth Pulitzer Prize winner the college has brought to campus since it began the distinguished professorship in 2000. She is the collegeâs first photojournalist and its first visiting professor with local roots. Byer is currently Senior Photojournalist at the Sacramento (California) Bee, one of the nationâs top newspapers.
Byer was born in Yonkers, N.Y., but grew up in nearby Rosendale where her father, Walter, was chief of police. She is a 1976 graduate of Rondout Valley High School. Her interest in photography began when she studied at Ulster County Community College, where she graduated in 1978. âLike all her predecessor Ottoway professors,â said College President Steven Poskanzer, âRenéeâs work shows us the passion that the great journalist brings to her craft â and it shows us the journalistâs ability to reveal so much about the human condition.â
Byer won her Pulitzer Prize, the top award in journalism, for a year-long series of photographs of a single mother and her 10 year-old son who was dying of cancer. "A Mother's Journey" is an intimate portrayal of a single mother's emotional and financial struggle as her son battled neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer.
âWhen done well,â said Byer, âphotojournalism is a powerful tool because it connects people to the reality of life and can bring understanding and awareness to important issues.â
This year-long documentary project was published as a four-part series and on the Web as a multimedia package. Along with the Pulitzer Prize, it won a World Understanding Award, as well the Society of Professional Journalistâs Sigma Delta Chi Award for feature photography. Its publication has led Byer on a whirlwind series of speaking engagements across America and the world.
Byerâs work will be exhibited at the collegeâs Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art beginning on Jan. 30 to April 11. An introductory ceremony for Byer will take place on Feb. 5.
Byer, who graduated cum laude from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., will then spend two weeks at the college, April 5 to 16, conducting a series of workshops, class visits and public performances.
About her visit to campus, Byer said, âI would like to show students how documentary photojournalism can give back to society by engaging our compassion, empowering those without power or influence, and inspiring us to be better.â
Dr. Howard Good, coordinator of the Journalism Program, noted the increasing importance of photojournalism in today's fast-changing media landscape. "Amid the glut of information bits and images, it is very easy for the purpose of journalism in general, and photojournalism in particular, to become lost," he said.
But, Byer added, "a still photograph stops time. It gives the viewer a moment to think, to react, to feel."
