VisCom Faculty and Staff

alost@ohio.edu

Phone: 740-597-1756

Photojournalism blog

Stan Alost has worked in the news industry for more than 20 years as a photojournalist, picture editor, designer, and in management. That experience included newspapers, wire services, and freelance work for numerous clients in and outside of the journalism field. He holds an undergraduate degree in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University, and a Master of Science degree from Ohio University. Beyond newspapers, his work has been published in books and magazines including Life, Ohio 24/7, News photographer, and Stern. Additionally, he co-authored research published in the Newspaper Research Journal as well as papers presented to AEJMC.

While faculty, Alost worked with former students to produce their books, including Alysia Burton Steele's "Delta Jewels: In search of my grandmother’s wisdom," Josh Birnbaum’s "Dream Shot: The journey to a wheelchair basketball national championship," Lauren Pond's "Test of Faith: Signs, serpents, and salvation," and Daniel Owen's "The In-Between Land." Beyond the student work, he contributed a chapter in "The Scripps School: Its stories, people, and legacy," and authored "An Introduction to Visual Communication: Understanding the language we see."

Alost helped to steer the award-winning annual student-led multimedia project Soul of Athens, and has done so since 2007. He was also the organizer and moderator of the annual National Press Photography Association Best of Photojournalism still photography, picture editing, and multimedia contests from 2001 until 2018. He also had the privilege of helping facilitate and mentor at both the Lens Collective multimedia conferences at University of Mississippi, created by Alyssa Burton Steele, and the Journalism in the Public Interest and Journalist as Witness workshops held at Allegheny College and Guilford College, created by Cheryl Hatch.

Over the years Alost has helped guide eight students to Fulbright scholarships and two students to recognition by the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography, and several students to Student Enhancement Grants funding their projects. Other students have been awarded significant prizes in international competitions including College Photographer of the Year, as well as awards in the Pictures of the Year competition, the Best of Photojournalism competition, and the Ohio Press Photographers Association contest.

He was awarded the University Professor award in 2010, as well as selected for the Bruning Teaching Academy for outstanding teaching at Ohio University in 2017.

Instagram: @stanalost

Office: Schoonover 258

Email: eiler@ohio.edu

Phone: 740-593-4895

Terry Eiler is a field researcher, magazine photographer, documentary photojournalist and co-founder of Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication and the school’s former director. As a publication photographer, he produced material for the National Geographic Society’s books and magazines over a 20-year period. His work has been featured in GEO, Sunset, and Paris Match.

As a documentary photographer, Eiler has been involved in Project Documerica, the 1970 project funded by the EPA to record the state of the environment prior to major air and water legislation. He has been a field researcher on four Library of Congress American Folklife Center projects, the Calvert Marine Museum project on the Patuxent River Watermen and a project documenting the people of West Virginia’s Coal River Valley for the American Folklife Center. His work has been the visual anchor of five books.

In 1994, Eiler was named the Kodak Professor to Australia. He is the chair of the academic advisory board of the Salt Center for documentary studies in Portland, Maine. He serves on the National Press Photographers Association's contest governing board for the Best in Photojournalism annual competition. He is the director of the annual Scotland Field School in Documentary Photojournalism. As a professor at Ohio University he has twice been named University Professor for his teaching excellence and in 1993 was presented Ohio University’s Alumni Teaching Excellence award.

He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from Ohio University. After completing post-graduate studies at the University of Missouri, he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from Ohio University.

Julie M. Elman has more than 15 years of experience in the newspaper industry, designing, photographing and picture editing at a handful of newspapers, including The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. She has won numerous awards of excellence for her work from the Society for News Design.

During her 17 years of teaching at Ohio University, Elman taught undergraduate and graduate courses in publication design, editorial illustration, typography, picture editing and creative process. Before making her way to the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University, Elman taught photojournalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and design at Virginia Wesleyan College.

Elman's illustrated book, "Fear, Illustrated: Transforming What Scares Us," was published in 2017. Elman is the co-author of "The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook," 7th edition. She also designed the book "The Rise of Barack Obama" for Pete Souza, the former Chief Official White House Photographer.

She has participated as a faculty member in numerous design and photography workshops, including the Society for News Design Quick Course, Stan Kalish Picture Editing Workshop, Truth With a Camera and the Missouri Photo Workshop.

Elman was selected for the Teaching Excellence Award at Ohio University in 2012.

She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Commercial Art from the University of Dayton and an Master of Fine Arts in Photography from Ohio University.

Office: Schoonover 260

Email: girton@ohio.edu

Phone: 740-597-1335

Portfolio

Sam Girton has more than 25 years of professional experience as a photographer, web, and print designer. He has worked for numerous clients, including IKEA, Trip Advisor, One Sight, The American Bar Association, PBS, Ted Talks, The New York Times, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Electronic Data Systems, Clear Channel Communications, Foam Magazine, Marietta Memorial Hospital, Lineberger Cancer Center, Rocky Boots and World Book Marketing.

He has led many workshops, including The Ohio Arts Council Summer Media Institute, and has experience in conducting study programs: Fashion Photography and Videography in Grand Cayman, Documentary Storytelling in Ireland and German, Design in Asia, as well as a design workshop at the University of Guyana (a USAID-funded workshop).

He has collaborated on special projects with The School of Interior Architecture and The School of Media Arts and Studies, which resulted in student work that was displayed in The Chicago Art Institute and recognized internationally by the media. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Girton is the faculty advisor for The Ohio University Multimedia Society and has served as the Director of Academic Technology for the Ohio University Information Technology department.

Girton teaches courses in Commercial Photography, Desktop Publishing, Motion Graphics, Audio/Video Production and 3D Modeling. He has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography from Ohio University. Girton was selected for the University Professor award for the 2012-2013 academic year.

His interest areas include Commercial Photography, Motion Graphics, 3D Modeling, Audio/Video Production, Project Management, Education Abroad Programs, and Alumni Relations.

John taught informational graphics in the VisCom program for five years. Before joining Ohio University, he was an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he founded the program’s first infographics course.

In his long professional career, John was graphics director of The Times (London), Condé Nast Traveler, Condé Nast Portfolio, Eight by Eight, and information graphics consultant for Popular Science.

His infographics have appeared in many magazines, newspapers, books and corporate publications in the U.S. and Europe. John has won several major awards, including the Society for News Design’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Malofiej Award (for advancing journalism in information graphics), and the British Press Award for infographics.

Larry Hamel-Lambert has 25 years experience working in the industry as a photographer and picture editor. Past employers include The Cleveland Press, The Cincinnati Post, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, The Washington (D.C.) Times, The Providence (R.I.) Journal, USA Today, and The Associated Press Washington, D.C., bureau.

His photographs have received recognition from The Ohio News Photographers Association, the Society of News Design, The Associated Press and the Atlanta Seminar. His photographs have appeared in magazines, books, and exhibitions. Currently, he is a frequent photographic contributor to Woodcraft Magazine.

Hamel-Lambert holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree from Bowling Green State University and a Masters of Arts in Photography degree from Ohio University.

His main areas of interest involve creating an architectural series of large-format, black-and-white images of country churches in Ohio, making large-format portraits using vintage lenses, and documenting community projects.

Hamel-Lambert teaches courses in Visual Communication Skills, Still Life and Architectural Photography, and Business and Studio Practices.

Bill Schneider taught most of the required darkroom photography classes for Viscom students beginning in 1987. After VisCom's shift to digital photography in 2003, he continued teaching darkroom practices as an elective course until 2009. Bill was also the primary instructor for a digital imaging class focused on creative imagery and Photoshop methods until he retired in 2017.

Bill holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering plus a Master of Fine Arts degree. During his time at Ohio University, he wrote and illustrated numerous magazine stories about photography and served as a technical editor for seven instructional books about graphics software for publishers McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, and New Riders Publishing.

Bill lives in Athens, Ohio with his wife, Marilyn Bradshaw, a retired Art History professor.