By Nicole Ochandarena, News Correspondent
Point and shoot. Instagram aside, the very name of the most widely used cameras of our generation imply a general lack of vision — arguably the most important part of photography itself. A far cry from the labor-intensive film setups of previous years, the point and shoot digital camera generation sometimes fails to account for the planning, the composition and the try-and-try-again mindset that can transcend photography from a simple record of moments gone by to an art form.
Just because photography has evolved does not mean that it lacks the following or support of photo enthusiasts of the past.
At Northeastern, the new photography club, NUPic, sees a future where the art of its members can be appreciated, shared and utilized by other organizations on campus.
NUPic leaders Kurt Morneault and Eric Evje, both middler mechanical engineering majors, said they hope to create a community of students with shared interests and subsets of the group that would be involved in professional networking, technique improvement through critique and learning through instruction.
The duo exemplifies that the club’s vision is accessible to any student willing to experiment and take approaches far outside his or her major.
“Photography de-stresses you,” Evje, the club treasurer, said. “It helps you see the world in a different way.”
Students interested in the topic often take different paths to realize their passion. Evje said that he began experimenting with his mom’s film camera before getting his first camera, while Morneault realized the need to express his artistic side after learning more about photography for a high school project. The group offers a community for all students who enjoy looking at the world through a different lens, regardless of experience level.
“Since we’re such a new group, it can be really open,” Morneault, the club president, said. “We’ll get involved in what the general group wants to be involved in. I really want it to be a community where we can learn from each other.”
The group, which has about 50 members, plans to go on photo walks around Boston to aesthetically interesting places in the area, share and get input on their work from other members, attend workshops on photography skills or topics and participate in monthly photo contests.
Students can look forward to this week’s presentation on Photoshop and Lightroom by senior graphic design student Garrick Dixon. Interested students can bring laptops and follow along with photos of their own today at 7 p.m. in 420 Shillman Hall.
Additionally, the club hopes that students will engage themselves in group activities and contests.
The current photo contest, centered around city streets and hosted online by the website Dat’s Bananas, closes on Monday, Oct. 1. Students may choose to enter a photo not significantly altered or Photoshopped, and a two-week voting period will follow the submission deadline. Anyone can vote in the contest.
For students inspired by shots of restaurants, street life, city life or other urban scenes, this offers an opportunity to vote for favorites or enter to potentially win one of two digital point and shoot cameras.
Beyond the competition, Morneault hopes to host a spring-semester open house to showcase the thoughtful work and passion of the students NUPic supports.
“I want it to be a black tie event in the ballroom,” Morneault said. “Everyone’s dressed up and has four to five photos, everyone has to eat escargot. It will be at the end of the year to show off what we did.”
While not one snapshot could demonstrate the potential of this club, NUPic is preparing to capture student creativity and imagination.
