Pictures of You

I am on campus right now. While I probably should be researching or getting a paper together, I am writing. What a fine mode of procrastination. I was walking to the lab that I like to plant myself in and a photographer was shooting some pictures of students in a very large and very expensive atrium they have here on campus. After being at Geneseo and seeing how much they touted the "Integrated Science Facility Bonanza Circus" or whatever they built in the middle there, it was actually hilarious to see it dwarfed by Albany's big "Dome O' Glass" that looks really fancy and most likely costs double.

What is important is that this particular photographer was posing these students for his shot. This shouldn't surprise me, nor does it. I have seen enough brochures and websites to know that photographers aren't waiting in the wings for Student A to point at Student B's particularly interesting tidbit of information on their computer screen. SO interesting, that he had to point (even though pointing is rude). Or that when "group of students" is having a great time at the campus center's cafe, they all throw their heads back and laugh with big smiles, because Center of attention student has said something both smart and funny, also know as smunny. I like those poses and even in my own experiences at college, I finally got over freezing for sustained amounts of time with a book when I was in the quad, making sure that the campus photographer got a good one.

I am not a photography master, but this shot was lousy. These three students (two women and a man) were just talking. No pointing, no really smunny phrases being said. Just conversation. A conversation taking place in an atrium that is so echoy you might want to cease any breathing just because it someone might ask you how your congestion is doing. Who in the world would do that? No one, its rediculous.

It inspired my own desire to be the face of collegiate life once more. I was looking very graduate with my Land's End monogramed bag and my cup of coffee (Green Mountain, not Starbucks. First, it's expensive, I should be getting a belly rub in addition to delicious coffee for that price. Secondly, it's cliche and college photos shouldn't be cliches). I walked slower so that the photographer could stop whatever mindless conversation was going on and ask me to be the face of SUNY Albany's graduate program, but sadly I think I was just in the background for one of the frames. Which is very metaphorical, and I guess will be the bigger statement after all. When I am on the cover for "College: You Should Go Here."