At the Arizona Cactus Garden
Alumni relations officer CINDY PEARSON has been taking a photograph of Stanford a day, chronicling the life of the university in delightful and unexpected ways. From busy bees at the Arizona Cactus Garden to students bedecked in rain wear to colorful wild flowers, her daily blog offers a slice of life that often goes unnoticed in the rush to work and classes. We’ve shared some photos here, but you should visit the blog titled “Every Day Stanford.” It is one of several offered by the Alumni Association.
Pearson says she started the project after having joined a Flickr group in which group members took and posted a photo a day for a year.
“I found myself bringing my camera to work a lot and taking photos around campus on lunchtime walks. And as I did, I started noticing and discovering things I hadn’t ‘seen’ before,” she said. “As fall approached, I started thinking about whether or not I’d carry on with the 365 project for another year. The Alumni Association blogs were launching, and 2010 is also my 30th reunion year. So, all those things sort of merged into an idea that I’d take a photo of Stanford every workday, starting at Dinner on the Quad at Reunion Homecoming 2009 and ending at my 30th reunion at Reunion Homecoming 2010. It was a way to celebrate my reunion year—sharing a bit of Stanford today with my classmates and anyone else who was interested!”
Pearson ventures out a noon, picking a different part of the campus each day to peruse. She searches for a subject that will somehow illustrate that particular day. Sometimes she’s happy with her work, sometimes she’s not. She posts either way.
“I’ve had to get over being too self-conscious about my work and just put it out there. And funny enough, some of the photos that I’ve been least happy with have generated the best responses.”
She adds, “With my reunion and my own Stanford memories in the back of my mind, I try to show both some of the new as well as what hasn’t changed much over the years.”
Visit her blog.
Bummer
Campus wildflowers
At the Cantor Arts Center
