Published: November 05, 2008 03:48 pm      

Photos on display at Linscheid Library

Photographs of life in Calcutta shot by three East Central University students and their instructor will be on exhibit beginning Thursday in the Hallie Brown Ford Atrium of ECU’s Linscheid Library.

Opening receptions will be scheduled at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday in the atrium. The photos will be on display through Nov. 25.

Luke Cypert of Ada, Blair Waltman of Maud and Jarrod Doyal of Ardmore accompanied Linda Schaefer, ECU instructor of communication, to India last summer for a two-week class, “Passages to India.”

On the way, they had a chance to visit London and even saw the Royal family.

“It was the queen’s birthday, so we saw them in the parade. It was something pretty cool to see on (the students’) first trip,” Schaefer said.

Seeing the world through different eyes – seeing outside the box – helps students, especially photographers, find their own vision, she explained.

“In a visual medium, you have to find your own vision through the lens of a camera,” she said.

“The real world is the real classroom. You learn more outside, not inside the classroom. We can start understanding the basics inside, but the teacher can’t help you see through the camera. You have to do that on your own. I am glad the students felt it was important enough to make the effort to go,” she said.

Schaefer is the author of a book, “Come and See: a Photojournalists’s Journey into the World of Mother Teresa.” After meeting Mother Teresa in Atlanta in 1995, and later working as a volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, she finally gained Mother Teresa’s permission to photograph her work and created the book of 155 select photos.