On March 25 in downtown Santa Clara, Utah Tech University’s Photo Club gathered around sunset at Frei’s Market to hold a street photography event. Around 10 participants gathered, some for photography and others to model.
The group headed west on Santa Clara Drive before stopping around Heritage Square to take photos under the golden light of the St. George sunset. Many of the photos were of models surrounded by the old-timey infrastructure of downtown Santa Clara, combining modern fashion with a rural background.
The Utah Tech Photo Club was founded two years ago by current Utah Tech senior and club president Lukas Hassell. Every Wednesday at 6:15 p.m., the club meets at a selected location before going on a photo walk.
“We trade off between doing photo shoots and other team building activities like playing board games… we do astro shoots, that’s a fan favorite of the club,” said Hannah Nielsen, club treasurer and sophomore nursing major from Salt Lake City.
Attendees debated over whether they could truly define the walk as street photography.
“I think it is street photography unless you’re posing them, because most of it is candid,” said Anneli Rasi-Koskinen, club member and freshman art major from Riverton. “Most of the pictures I got are just people hanging around… If I’m standing there posing somebody, then I would call that more of a portrait.”
Others argued that it simply wasn’t street photography when a model was used. “I would say anything that doesn’t have a model in it could be considered street photography for this photo shoot,” Nielsen said. “We’re trying to make it work the best we can.”
Many of the photographers gather inspiration from popular photographers; a couple of the names brought up were Vivian Maier and Billy Dinh.
The club treasurer, and freshman general studies major from San Diego, Riley Seare, had a bit of a different answer, claiming his amateur self was his biggest inspiration.
“The photos that inspire me the most are the horrible photos that I’ve taken in the past,” he said. “My goal with photography is to improve upon myself, so what inspires me is amateur me.”
About an hour into the walk, everybody made their way to Swiss Pioneer Memorial Park, where the last of the photos were taken before the sun fully set behind the mountains. Many clubs would have ended the event there, but the night was far from over.
The Photo Club prioritizes connecting with each other, and after the sun went down, everybody stopped taking photos and hung out at the park for another couple of hours. Some participants played tag on the playground, while others sat and talked.
“People love the social events that we do, whether it’s board games or movie night,” Seare said. “I definitely would love to get more people out to the actual shoots, but we do try to do other things. We are a group of friends, that’s the core of it.”
Some members mentioned newfound skills that were learned through attending Photo Club events.
“It’s really hard when you’re trying to figure it out on your own,” said Ellie Jarvis, social media manager and junior art major from Spanish Fork. “I never would have learned film if it wasn’t for the community I have, both in Photo Club and at school.”
No matter the skill level, the photo club encourages students to come and attend, whether it’s for modeling, photography or just hanging out.
“We would love to have you. It’s always a good time, no matter what we’re doing,” Nielsen said. “It doesn’t matter what you know and what you don’t know. You’ll have a good time.”
