

Earlier this month, surviving members of the 9/11 Commission reunited for a series of events at Indiana University marking the 20th anniversary of the group’s work. During their visit, commissioners and staff members taped interviews for a forthcoming documentary, held a press conference and spoke to classes.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to make a few portraits of Indiana University President Pamela Whitten for the cover of the Indiana University Alumni Magazine. Whitten was in town for meetings before officially taking office, giving us a chance to snag her for a quick six-minute photo shoot. My colleague Chris Meyer and I worked with folks from the magazine to scout locations that morning, allowing us to quickly run her through four different “looks” near the front entrance of the Indiana Memorial Union. To light President Whitten I used a Flashpoint (Godox) XPLOR 600 fired into a Westcott 7-foot Parabolic Umbrella, a pandemic lighting gear purchase that has quickly become my go-to modifier because of the soft, wrap-around light it creates.
In recent months, I have had a few opportunities to drone in downtown Indianapolis. This is thanks in part to my work as a photographer for Indiana University as well as in a freelance capacity.
Earlier this month, Indiana University formally dedicated a building based on designs by legendary modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Mies originally designed the structure in 1952 to be a fraternity house for the Alpha Theta chapter of Pi Lambda Phi. The fraternity abandoned the project and the little-known designs were largely forgotten. In 2013, Sidney Eskenazi, a former member of the fraternity, related the story to IU President Michael A. McRobbie, kicking off a search for the designs. The search uncovered the designs and eventually led to the building’s construction thanks in large part to a $20 million gift to the school from Sidney and Lois Eskenazi. Once completed this fall, the approximately 10,000-square-foot building will be a shared facility for the IU Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.