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J U N E 2 0 0 9
I S S U E
Contributors
Getting to Know Your Subject
Time is of the essence
Photographer Mike Ciesielski says he enjoyed photographing
all of the alumni who were interviewed for "Graduating in Tough Times," but he
was particularly taken with the university's earlier
graduates. "The older the person is, the more fascinating
they become," Ciesielski says. "With younger people, you
get the last nine minutes of their lives. With older
people, life is all one thing, not just now preceded by
everything that came before. It all gets stitched
together." He adds, "And they have time to enjoy it!
They're not tied up in the day-to-day. They don't need to
rush out of the room." Ciesielski is a regular contributor
to Johns Hopkins Magazine; he also shoots for a
variety of health-service and commercial clients.
Complicated history
Susan Frith knew little of the Hottentot Venus before
stumbling upon the biography, co-written by Clifton Crais,
A&S '84 (MA), '88 (PhD), that would become the subject of
this issue's "Searching for Sara
Baartman." But getting to know her through the book was
an education, Frith says. "The biography left me with more
complicated feelings about a time period that produced
great literature, numerous scientific discoveries, and a
growing conception of the rights of man. Unfortunately, the
latter idea didn't yet extend to a woman, let alone a woman
from Africa." Frith's work has appeared in Air & Space,
The Pennsylvania Gazette, and Potomac Review.
Return to June 2009 Table
of Contents
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