Capturing K-State

 

It's safe to say Dan Donnert will do just about anything to make K-State look good.

To get the perfect shot, Donnert, director of K-State's photographic services, has found himself hanging from the side of an airplane, with just a rope (no harness) to secure himself, camera in hand to photograph K-State at Salina's airplanes in flight.

"When I told my wife about that one, she said, 'You did what?' " said Donnert, laughing.

"What makes this job interesting is never really knowing what I'll be doing from one day to the next," he added.

Whether it's photographing a snowy day on campus, a head shot of a professor, the adrenaline rush of a sporting event or Bill Clinton delivering a Landon Lecture, Donnert has spent the past 22 years with photographic services, capturing the images that make K-State.

Located in the Power Plant building, photographic services does an array of work for the university.

"We literally supply the campus community with all of its photographic needs," Donnert said. "We take photos for brochures, portables (documents), the alumni magazine, athletics, campus shots you name it. Alumni and corporations also contact us to buy our photos."

While photographic services is located on K-State's campus, it is not funded by the university. K-State's photographic services is "service clearing," meaning it's self funded.

"We're just like a business," Donnert said. "The departments and people here use us and buy pictures, but with that money we have to pay for staff salaries and equipment."

Within the past decade, K-State photographic services like all photographic entities has undergone an evolution sparked by the digital age.

To make an appointment with photographic services or to order photos, call 532-6304, e-mail photo@k-state.edu, or visit http://www.k-state.edu/photo. Group discounts are available.

Using Nikon D1X cameras, photographic services has gone completely digital, making it possible for people to view photos almost instantly with the aid of e-mail or Web pages.

Although Donnert and the photographic services staff have embraced the new technology, remnants of bygone methods of photography still linger in the office.

There is a small room tucked off the main studio, once a darkroom buzzing with students developing photos. The photos that were developed there years ago (or their negatives) remain in the office, the images waiting for the moment when they become of service to someone.

Many of these photos some of which can be accessed on the photographic services Web site create a visual tapestry of the university and provide a window into the history of K-State.

"The historical aspect is one of the most important things (with photographs)," Donnert said. "We have a pictorial record of the university and if that were lost, then history would be lost.

"A good example of K-State history is the tenure under Dr. Wefald: All the changes that have happened academically and athletically are all recorded pictorially."

In his time with photographic services, Donnert has photographed political leaders such as Henry Kissinger ("so much history and politics there") and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. ("He was so quiet when he was being photographed and waiting for the lecture, but he transformed when he got to speak.")

Donnert said this aspect underlines the importance of having photographic services on campus.

And as Donnert would have anyone know, photographic services is easy to access.

"We're right here on campus, and it's cheaper to use us than to go off campus," he said.

 

Photo: K-State's director of photographic services, Dan Donnert.