That Sunday night, October 5, a reception was organized for alumni/ae. Ali Lozoff and others had come back to volunteer and help current Radio K students produce an extravaganza of local events across town, and this night was going to be the closest thing to a reunion. I knew there would be a lot of Radio K people there, perhaps not to be seen again for a long time, so I brought a camera.
Usually, when making a portrait of someone, I take dozens of pictures, most of which are never seen again, then select one or two. I try to catch the person's vibe and help them feel a little less uncomfortable with the wierd thing of being in front of that relentless eye at the front of the little black box -- and under all those lights. It's a bit of theater I enjoy as well as a moment that lets me gauge just how anxious a person is about having their picture taken.
That night, I wanted to have tech in hand but leave a little something to chance. I decided to try exposing just one frame of film of each person who sat for a portrait (unless I saw them blink). The 57 final images are from a total of only 72 exposures.
Throughout the reception that evening, Arden Durham was upstairs shooting interviews for her documentary on Radio K, which I can't wait to see. I had volunteered evenings and weekends that summer working with students and staff at Radio K to coordinate interviews with people who had worked there in its ten years, and to help shape the interviews into short spots that aired discussing Radio K's history. So, many of the people in these photographs had just been interviewed -- either some minutes earlier by Arden, or some weeks earlier by a current Radio K student -- about what it was like when they were there.
A lot of people give their time and insight to keep Radio K on the air. Here are 57 of them -- a few of the real people who do real college radio. (See Radio K People at mnartists.org.)
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