Heavy rain on a weekend would usually leave Western’s campus deserted, but the Communications Facility is a buzz this Saturday. Roughly 30 students, professors and journalists fill the hall, chatting amongst themself or snapping photos as they wait for the event to begin.

Bellingham Visual, a visual journalism conference organized by Western professors Joe Gosen and John Harris, returned for the second year since its hiatus. Six panelists, including two Western alumni, made their way to Bellingham on Oct. 19, 2024.

The one-day conference is co-sponsored by the Department of Journalism and the Foundation for WWU & Alumni. The event is accessible for students and gives the Pacific Northwest visual journalism community a chance to showcase their work.

“There are conferences all over the country throughout the year,” Gosen said. “Most of them are pricey and difficult for students to travel to.”

Keith Jefferson from the Lummi Nation kicked off the conference with a ceremonial drum performance. Written by Jefferson’s father, the song gave thanks to their relatives.

The morning was dedicated to videography and uplifting Indigenous stories with inspiring films shared by the Children of the Setting Sun and Ramon Dompor from the Seattle Times. These seminars gave a “better look into how these stories get told,” Gosen said.

The Children of the Setting Sun shared their film about the Salmon People as part of their lecture on “Storytelling for Change.” The film documented the Coast Salish Tribes’ effort to return the salmon to their natural habitat and the impact on the Coast Salish Tribes’ community.

Dompor shared how to find the heart of a community. His videos on LGBTQ+ skaters losing their safe space after a bus crash and rebuilding after the fire in Malden, Washington, showcases the human interest in breaking news.

“I liked listening to Ramon talk and him going into his video documentary work and different skills to utilize doing video work,” Tristyn MacDonald, a visual journalism major at Western, said. “Because that’s something that I want to get better at.”

In the afternoon, attendees had a chance to sharpen their skills with a lighting seminar hosted by commercial photographer Mark Malijan, and tools for making community connections with Cascadia Daily News visual journalist Hailey Hoffman.

“I really liked that during the lighting demonstration, we could see on the screen exactly the differences that were made,” Carlee Schram, a visual journalism major at Western, said. “I really appreciate that they made the presentation not just be them talking. I think that I learned a lot in that way.”

Malijan showed how to capture a shot with dynamic lighting using little equipment, which appealed to student attendees just getting started in the field.

“Working with little equipment, that was something interesting to me because I don’t have a lot of equipment,” Ben Stainbrook, a visual journalism major at Western, said. “So doing more with less is something that pertains to me a lot.”

With the rise of AI on many journalists’ minds, Jovelle Tamayo from The Marshall Project led a discussion about navigating visuals in the era of generative AI, leaving the attendees with a lot to think about.

Photographer Robert Galbraith brought the conference full circle with a return to what photojournalism is really about, taking pictures. From the story behind the shot to his signature lack of cropping, his photos displayed his voice.

“Those who attended the conference, I would like them to walk away with an appreciation for visual storytelling,” Gosen said, “whether it’s photo or video.”