UNK alumna Sydney Smolla captures the connection between individuals and the planet – UNK NEWS

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Every picture Sydney Smolla takes has a deeper that means.

Through pictures and filmmaking, the University of Nebraska at Kearney alumna creates highly effective narratives about individuals, the planet and their connection each regionally and globally.

A documentary storyteller, photographer and filmmaker based mostly in Durango, Colorado, Smolla makes use of a wide range of visible communications to discover the connection between people and the pure world. Her work is commonly centered on environmental advocacy and feminine empowerment and is formed by her personal experiences dwelling in Gallup, New Mexico.

“Traveling and living in other places opens your mind to other ways of living,” Smolla mentioned. “Living in New Mexico, in a town surrounded by the Navajo Nation and other pueblos, I was invited into the lives of people who are resilient and taught me a new way of life. Although this didn’t come at first, I had to learn to question everything I thought I knew about the history of our country, and I started to process that through photography and asking questions.”

Having lived in rural areas of the Southwest and Midwest for 10-plus years, her eye for pictures developed when searching for magnificence within the sudden and on a regular basis moments. Seeing life with this lens, she started to seek out tales but untold – tales of resilience and pressure between historical past and current day. Now, she’s connecting all of it utilizing pictures and filmmaking to encourage change.

“I have witnessed photography alter the way people think of themselves for the better, and I have also witnessed creative storytelling inspire change on a local and global level,” Smolla mentioned.

Finding her focus

Originally from Omaha, Smolla began taking a look at faculties whereas nonetheless uncertain of what she wished to check. That uncertainty light after a dialog with UNK pictures professor Derrick Burbul.

“I met with Derrick Burbul at my college visit to UNK. This was the first time I had met a teacher who I felt understood my creative way of thinking,” she recalled. “When talking with him, I remember thinking, this is the school I want to go to.”

Smolla majored in journalism and minored in pictures, permitting her to discover inventive storytelling by way of each visible and written mediums. Her professors in each the communication and art departments turned a powerful assist system.

“Although Sydney only minored in photography, she took more classes than needed, and that curiosity behind the work drove her to the success she has today,” Burbul mentioned. “It’s always fun to have students like her who really want to understand and explore the things you’re teaching.”

During her senior yr, Smolla discovered a brand new course by way of Mary Harner, a communication professor who works with Platte Basin Timelapse, a mission that makes use of time-lapse pictures and multimedia storytelling to spotlight watersheds and conservation efforts alongside the Platte River.

“Dr. Harner was hugely influential to me in starting a passion for conservation photography,” Smolla mentioned. “She got me involved with the Summit Workshop, where I had the opportunity to photograph sandhill cranes during the migration and learn from Michael Forsberg, Melissa Groo and Dave Showalter about conservation photography. I look back on that week as the moment I learned exactly what I wanted to do.”

Meaningful work

After graduating in 2018, Smolla labored for pure sources districts in Sidney and North Platte doing inventive communications work earlier than relocating together with her husband to New Mexico, the place she immersed herself within the lovely landscapes of the Southwest and started creating documentary-style work highlighting individuals, nature and the interconnected relationship between the 2. That expertise deepened her appreciation for human connection and the ability of storytelling.

Her inventive work has since advanced into a mix of pictures, filmmaking, public talking and training. Now dwelling in Colorado, Smolla has collaborated with artists, musicians, organizations and mission-driven manufacturers to create tasks rooted in advocacy and empowerment. Her imagery options the rugged landscapes of the Southwest and her worldwide travels, inviting viewers to see magnificence and duty on this planet round them.

Smolla educates each on-line and thru in-person artist talks. She additionally invests in ardour tasks targeted on nature and human advocacy and provides feminine empowerment periods. These portrait periods rejoice confidence and private transformation utilizing inventive portraiture, storytelling and lighting to empower ladies.

Her work has been shared by Sony Alpha Female on Instagram and showcased in exhibitions within the Southwest and in Taiwan for the ColorPro Awards. She was additionally featured within the Picture America collection by Adorama on their YouTube channel.



Coming house with a brand new view

Years later, Smolla continues to credit score UNK school for giving her the instruments to seek out her inventive voice and offering assist lengthy after commencement.

“As a creative person paving your own path and pursuing your passion for work, you really run into a lot of roadblocks. I still have connections with my professors from UNK,” Smolla mentioned. “Derrick Burbul still to this day provides ideas for grants, galleries and contests to apply to that will help provide funding for the work I am bringing to life.”

When she returned to campus final spring to talk with present communication college students, Smolla inspired them to pursue their passions and observe their instincts – recommendation that mirrors her personal journey.

“Sydney’s talk of her personal story benefited students greatly,” Harner mentioned. “Speaking to the class about the differences in everyone’s journey and how to make time for passion projects is something students need to hear.”

Today, whether or not she is touring overseas in Iceland, automobile tenting within the desert or photographing landscapes within the mountains, Smolla continues to construct inventive work that fuses artwork and advocacy to encourage change.