Photographers Create Connections for Annual Zine

The “Humans of Masters” zine project marks its eighth year and is a highlight of Rachel Langosch’s Photography 2 curriculum.

Inspired by photographer Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York” online project that began with Stanton taking pictures of New Yorkers and pairing the images with quotes from their conversations, Langosch sends her students into the Masters community to snap photos and learn about their subjects. Students are currently working on critique sessions and reshoots before collaborating to create the final layout and design of the zine.

“What I often tell students is: Imagine making a book with images and text, but know some people might never read the text — so make portraits that are beautiful and add accompanying text that enhances the images,” Langosch explained. “Think about making the words as vivid as the images so that it draws people in.” 

Warsameh Jama ’25 focused on the diversity of the Masters community and honed in on those subjects whom he believed students knew but rarely approached: the children of faculty, Ms. Danforth and the security staff.

“One of my favorite photos is of one of our security guards, Christopher, who is from Jamaica,” Jama said. “I took a picture of him standing on the road at 7:00 a.m. He's always there in the morning just giving a smile to everyone so I wanted to capture him because he's always there for us and helping drivers not get into traffic jams.”

Sam Haas ’25, who took photographs of Director of Student Activities Ed Gormley, also embraced the challenge. “I enjoyed the opportunity to go around our campus and interact with people I would not normally have talked to,” Haas said. “Through this project I’ve learned numerous skills that revolve around interviewing people.”

Director of the Journalism Collaborative Ellen Cowhey was the perfect inspiration for senior Tereza Horvatova. As Horvatova’s dorm parent, Cowhey was someone who made her feel at home at Masters when she missed her own. “In the photo, Ms. Cowhey is standing by the soccer field with the sun illuminating her face, and she has a comforting expression,” she said. “Everyone I interviewed so far has come from very different backgrounds and that shapes them as individuals. This project has been a great tool to get to know these people more personally.”

Langosch has enjoyed seeing how the project impacts students: “It builds their confidence, and I think it's pretty cool to see how students go out the first couple of times and they say there wasn't anybody there or somebody told me I couldn't take their picture. Then by the end, they’ve created a body of six to eight images that they feel really proud of.”

“What I love about photography is how you can make a picture come to life,” Jama added. “This assignment opened my mind to just have fun and talk to people and have a conversation with anyone you want.”

“Humans of Masters” will be published in early November.