Third Floor Photo Society blog
Tucked away on the third floor of the Journalism Building is the Third Floor Photo Society. This group of aspiring photographers hopes to one-day follow in the footsteps of some very distinguished alumni of Texas A&M University-Commerce.
In the nearly 20 years of existence, A&M-Commerce has seen some famous alumni, such as Mark Seliger, of Rolling Stone, Robb Kendrick, of National Geographic, and Darren Braun, who has done work for Esquire magazine.
One of the most important aspects of the Photo Society is the alumni participation. According to Chad Smith, advisor, even those alumni who did not choose photography as their career keep in touch.
A big goal set for the Photo Society this year is to generate interest from the rest of the student body, and pretty much everyone not walking the halls of the third floor already. Traveling galleries of work from the students will be placed throughout the halls of the University in an attempt at this goal.
“This year we want to outreach further in our community and to other surrounding communities. We hope to have a large increase of involvement from our members and from people outside the university,” Daniel Mendenhall, vice president of the Photo Society said. According to Mendenhall, there are no requirements to meet in order to get involved with the Photo Society.
“I like Photo Society because it brings all the photographers together. Not to mention, with there not being much to do in Commerce it gives me and other students something to do,” Sean Berry, secretary of the Photo Society said.
Advisor Chad Smith hopes to play a part making this the best year yet. Every two weeks, the Third Floor Gallery will be chocked full of the best work from different students. Each exhibited student will have the chance to show off the work and talent that they believe will move their careers as photographers.
“Photo Society is a student ran organization that allows for the students to take ownership in their college career. The drive for the success for the Photo Society comes from the officers. Last year Andrea Canafax, as president, did a great job of getting momentum started and hopefully has done a better job of instilling that drive into the new officers, ” Smith said.
More information about the Photo Society can be found at their blog, thirdfloorphoto.blogspot.com, which is maintained by Mendenhall.