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PHOTO BY CHRISTY PELLAND

AFTER PELLAND GRADUATED IN 2005, SHE WENT ON TO OPEN HER OWN VERY SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS IN GRAHAM, WASH. , doing weddings, portraits and other types of work (www. christypelland. com). This photo of her sister was part of an assignment she did for Geller’s class. “After looking at all kinds of expressionist art, I decided to explore with double exposure and manipulating images,” Pelland said. She decided to send the photo in to “Best of College Photography,” winning her a spot in the book and the photo became part of her senior thesis show at PLU.

View a slideshow of photos from this story

PLU students win place in “Best of College Photography”

By Matt Nagle

For the 20th year in a row, works by students at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) have been chosen for publication in the annual “Best of College Photography” from the publishers of the award-winning Photography Forum magazine. Since 1988, Bea Geller, an associate professor of art at PLU, has encouraged her students to send their work in to be judged for possible inclusion in the book, and every year at least two or more get chosen, some years from among as many as 30,000 entries sent in by college students across the country.

Geller said the students not only enjoy the prestige of being published in the big glossy volume but also see it as a positive commentary on the work they put into their efforts at PLU. “It’s an important marker for the students and it’s good for the school,” Geller said. “My students take initiatives that go beyond the classroom.”

Some students have won exceptional acknowledgements. In 1987, for example, Yukiko Sato placed fourth in the nation and Harry Silva made it into the top 100. Other winners include Abbey Buck who, upon graduation in 2000, began a career as an art therapist.

This year two of Geller’s students, Jason Comerford, Jr. and Hilde Moen, were chosen by “Best of College Photography” judges to have their photographs included in the 2008 edition due to be published next month. Both Comerford’s and Moen’s winning photographs appear here along with those from some past winners: PLU alumni Carissa Meier, Christy Pelland, Michael Rosenau and Jessica Bruce, some of whom have gone on to pursue photography and graphic design in their professional lives.

“I have had many students and it’s a great achievement to see them move forward in photography and continue as mature artists,” Geller said. “I have inspired many students, and they remain successful in a very competitive discipline.”

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