PUB helps youngsters create ‘masterpiece’

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Shannon Dailey

An exhibit at Rochester City Hall featured photographic works from a book created by RIT students and Rochester City School District youngsters.

Rochester City School District students unveiled a book of their best photography March 30—and RIT students helped to make it all possible. The two groups joined forces to produce a book that features each of the city school students’ best photography work, as well as their personal writing.

This year’s edition was presented during an awards ceremony at City Hall. The project derives from an annual collaboration between PUB, a project-based student organization in RIT’s School of Print Media, and the Wilson Foundation Academy Photo Club, which is a Community Darkroom program at the Genesee Center for the Arts. “The book provides a sense of completion and achievement for the students,” says Sharon Turner, who heads the Community Darkroom program. “It honors the quality of the students’ work because the book is so creative and professional.” Participating city school students, all of whom are in grades 7-9, are instructed by a diverse group of photo professionals, including RIT students and alumni.

The primary responsibility of the PUB students is to help publish the work by teaching photo scanning and the use of software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. “RIT PUB students hear about what a wonderful experience it is to work with the Wilson Academy students from previous PUB participants and sign up,” says Katharine Benson, a fourth-year graphic media major and the PUB Community Darkroom project manager. “The Wilson Academy students’ dedication to the program and their willingness to listen and learn is refreshing.”

This year, the students also produced a smaller project. PUB helped the youngsters design personalized wire-bound notepads. Each notepad, in addition to featuring original photo prints, has a personalized message that each student was able to create. Their efforts didn’t stop there, however. PUB members bound each of the 200 notepads by hand before giving them to the students. Each student received six 3-inch by 5-inch notepads.