The Daily talked with combined degree student Rachel Boillot about work with Exposure and the experience of photojournalism.
Tufts Daily: How did you get into photography and in what ways do you use it?
Rachel Boillot: I started junior year of high school and it sort of took off from there. I enjoy academics and learning about what's going on in the world, and I think that artists have a responsibility to look outward rather than just inward. I think that they are a source of information, so I look towards photojournalism and using art for social change.
TD: Through what outlets have you gotten to pursue photojournalism?
RB: The biggest way at Tufts is Exposure, which is an Institute for Global Leadership program for photojournalism and documentary studies. We do workshops and work with a group of photojournalists - we work a lot with Gary Knight and James Nachtwey. I interned for James Nachtwey this summer and I did a workshop with Gary in Argentina last summer.
We also have weekly meetings for people who are interested in documentary photography to come discuss issues relating for photojournalism. Tufts Exposure is my best outlet for photojournalism whereas the Museum School is definitely for more technical work, and working on the practice of photography itself.
TD: What made you decide to do the combined degree program?
RB: I switched in last spring, so technically I'm a first year at the Museum School and a sophomore here at Tufts. The Tufts photography department is great, but because so many people who are interested in the arts rely on the Museum School, I felt that I was ready to branch out and knew that the Museum School was the best place to do that.
TD: What do you think of the art community here at Tufts?
RB: There's definitely a strong art community, but because the arts are split between Tufts and the Museum School, I definitely find that my outlet for the arts is at the Museum School, just because I think that most people go there for a lot of their art stuff. And because of the combined degree program, I'm at the Museum School more and more, so that's where I go for an artistic community. Also, I think that there's a strong community within the combined degree program, and that it's a great support system because it's a great program, even though it can be difficult and stressful.
TD: Where do you see your artwork going and do you want to pursue it later in a career?
RB: I've started to get more specific about what I'm interested in. I know I don't want to be a war photographer; I'm not interested in the photography of conflict. I'm more interested in how photography can be a source of information about the aftermath of conflict and different reconciliation processes.
TD: Tell me about this photograph from Honduras.
RB: "August 2006, Calpules, Honduras. The Doorway of a School." I was there in August with a group from Pangea and we were working with a school in that community. The issue there was that they didn't have a place to store food at the school, so kids had to go home for lunch and they weren't coming back.
We were working for an NGO down there called Fucohso, and also providing school supplies and donated cash to the school system. I was there both volunteering with the rest of the group and documenting the trip.
TD: What are your plans for projects in the future?
RB: I'm waiting to hear about this summer - I applied to be in Cambodia and I am definitely traveling to Kashmir with Gary Knight again, and a group of nine other Exposure students. As students doing this kind of work, we're lucky because we come back to a community of people who are interested in global issues.
We publish books, and we've done two so far, which are put in bookstores nationwide, and we exhibit our own work on campus through slide shows to get the word out. The workshops are really important for us as students, and they're very educational.
We work digitally so that Gary, who's an amazing photographer, can critique our work every night, and we also work with a writer Mort Rosenblum, who used to work for the Associated Press and then the Herald Tribune, so he acts as a mentor for producing a written piece to go with the photography. So, I would say it's as much about the process as it is about the product, although the product is essential to the experience.
-by Sarah Cowan
