Project Portrait

Stacie Struble, a senior at Pacific University, began making portraits of fellow students two years ago as a way to meet people and improve her skills as a photographer.

But slowly, she says, “it morphed from a project about my own personal growth into something more significant.”  In the end, she photographed 175 Pacific students, faculty and staff, each pictured in black-and-white with natural lighting.

A selection of forty of these portraits, along with a printed book showing the full set, is on display currently at the Pacific University Library. The subjects project confidence with a slight edge of uncertainty in their serious expressions. As Struble explains in her artist’s statement, “Omitting a smile shows some vulnerability and I wanted my subjects to be comfortable with feeling that way, and I wanted to express this to the viewer.”

More examples of Struble’s work can be seen at her professional website, www.staciestrublephotography.com.

The portraits will be on display in the Forest Grove Campus Library through April during regular library hours, seven days per week. Contact archives@pacificu.edu for additional information.