Internationally Acclaimed Photojournalism Graduate Returns to Loyalist College as Guest Speaker

On Wednesday, October 31st, Donald Weber, a Loyalist Photojournalism 2001 graduate, will be presenting a collection of his photographs and the stories behind the images. The presentation will be at 7:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall at the College.

In the spring of 2007 Donald was named as one of the recipients of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Grant, chosen from applicants from across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the Fellowship is to enable recipients to focus on a specific project by providing them with a grant for a one-year period.

Donald’s project is based in Russia, where he is travelling across the country, essentially telling the story of the curse of power, and the wounds it inflicts on those who don’t have it. He is exploring the old Gulag camps, the rise of HIV in youth, the army of blue-jacketed pensioners shuffling on the streets, and the decaying military. His quest is to ask questions such as, who are the Russians? Why do they have certain characteristics? Where does this ‘dusha’, the Russian word for soul, come from?

“I am looking forward to returning to my alma mater,” said Donald Weber. “I entered Loyalist as an older student at 28, and was immediately put to work by my instructors. This forced me to confront exactly what it was that I wanted to say and do in my future endeavours. My initial growth as a photographer was fostered, and I was introduced to people in the industry who would eventually come to be colleagues.”

“I have been very busy the last few months,” he continued. “On Wednesday evening, instead of showing ‘Don Weber’s Greatest Hits’, I’d like to present a sort of career arc: how I started, what I shot first, what motivated me to keep going, and the two projects that I hold closest to me – my work from Chernobyl and Russia.”

This year American Photo Magazine named Donald as one of the New Generation of Photo Pioneers in their Emerging Talents Issue. In June 2007 he won the Applied Arts Magazine Annual Photography competition in the Photojournalism category for his story Bastard Eden: Chernobyl at Twenty. In addition to his project work, during the past year he has completed assignments for Walrus Magazine in Calgary, Portfolio Magazine on Sakhalin Island in Russia, NGO War Child in Ethiopia, and covered the Ukrainian elections. He has also received a World Press Awards honourable mention and the Dorothea Lange / Paul Taylor award from Duke University.

Donald’s presentation is sponsored by the Loyalist College Photojournalism program and is open to the community at no charge. Those interested in learning more about Donald’s work can visit www.donaldweber.com.

Media Contact: Marilyn Warren, Communications, Loyalist College, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2332; e-mail: mwarren@loyalistc.on.ca or Bill White, Photojournalism, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2272