Capturing campus moments
University Communications photographer documents CMU and community
With each click of the shutter, Steve Jessmore is capturing the history of the university he graduated from, where his is recognized in the Journalism Hall of Fame, and where he is helping teach the next generation of photographers.
“It’s not just a job. I’m not just a photographer. It’s not just a trivial sort of thing, it’s something that really can make a difference,” Jessmore said, describing how his career came full circle after returning to Central Michigan University in 2013.
If you have attended to any event on campus, you could have been photographed by the photographer admired by photojournalists throughout the world. Jessmore has worked for the Saginaw News, Flint Journal and the Sun News in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Over the course of his career he has earned numerous state and national photojournalism awards including the Robert F. Kennedy photojournalism award for outstanding coverage of the disadvantaged. He also is a five-time Michigan Press Photographer Association photographer of the year.
With all of these awards, the most prominently displayed work hanging in Jessmore's office is his "Sense of Community" photo column he created for the Flint Journal that was published from 2004 to 2008. The photo column also won national and international awards, but he is most-proud of this photojournalism because it connected the lives of Flint-area residents who gave back to the community with readers of the newspaper.
Recalling his first day on the job at University Communications, Jessmore explained how he received a phone call from one of his former coworkers who now works at the Detroit News, who said by working in public relations he “had gone to the dark side.”
Despite the difference between public relations and journalism, Jessmore sees his job as the same.
“What we’re hoping to do is show how special the university is. Obviously the end goal is to keep students coming to CMU and for us to show that CMU is a great place for you," he said.
Majoring in journalism when he attended CMU, Jessmore was a journalist for 31 years. Being the photographer for University Communications at CMU is a unique job and a great transition for him.
From event coverage to candid shots of students walking to class, Jessmore photographs everything on campus except sports action athletics.
“It’s storytelling," he said. "That’s really what we do. CMU has a great story to tell.”
Because CMU students and alumni are involved in things outside of the Mount Pleasant community, photographers have to travel occasionally. Jessmore went to five different alternative break locations this year over the course of six days to capture students volunteering all over the country. He is making it a goal to shoot at Beaver Island this year.
“I like to photograph things that are interactive, that I can be like a fly on the wall,” Jessmore explained. “I can just be sort of there following around and watching.”
Because University Communications photographers work for CMU, they are able to do things like climb to the top of the press box or go on roofs to get a different angle for a photo.
“Where somebody’s just in their own element and they allow me to come in and share that without controlling it—that’s my favorite thing, by far, to do,” Jessmore said. “I think as a journalist that’s the greatest thing that can happen for what we do, is to let people be themselves.”
Another part of Jessmore's job is mentoring interns at University Communications. His interns have gone on to get internships and jobs at newspapers and Ford Motor Co.
Alumna Danielle Duval said working for Jessmore taught her time management skills and trained her to work on deadline. Now Duval is interning for MLive at the Jackson Citizen Patriot.
“Steve made it a self-motivated internship (at CMU) where I could plan my own hours and come in when I could,” Duval said.
Photojournalism student and intern, Shannon Millard, explained the unique photojournalism philosophy they have adopted when taking photos on campus.
“We’re like public relations with a photojournalism twist,” the Beal City senior said.
