photo by David Erickson

Teresa Tamura, an assistant professor of photojournalism at UM , goes over camera techniques with student Anna Lundgren.

Photo prof named
Nat'l Geographic fellow

By Bennett Jacobs
J-School Web reporter

If you ask UM photojournalism students what their dream job would be, most likely more than a few would mention National Geographic magazine.

Now, one of their professors, Teresa Tamura, is getting the chance to work with the prestigious publication in order to bring back valuable information to students in Montana.

Tamura recently learned she was the recipient of the 2005 National Geographic Faculty Fellowship. As a fellow, she will spend 10 weeks at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington D.C. There, she will get the opportunity to witness the everyday activities of one of the country’s busiest magazine newsrooms.

“I hope to get the chance to gather more knowledge about how the magazine works, from editing to design to photo selection,” Tamura said. And she'll also bring back a better idea of what it takes to be a photographer for the magazine.

As of print time, Tamura was still working out the details of her trip via e-mail correspondence with Susan Smith, National Geographic’s assistant photography editor.

But with the help of former Pollner professor Nancy Szokan, an editor at the Washington Post, Tamura has found an apartment to sublet that's just three blocks from the National Geographic office. 

As for her husband, Tamura says she will “go it alone,” but he’ll come to visit.

In the past, faculty fellows at National Geographic have been sent into the field with staff photographers. While there is no guarantee that Tamura will get that nod, the chance is ever-present.

Regardless, Tamura will gather questions from UM students this spring to ask the National Geographic staff. Also, she will be able to compose a photo essay of her experiences for use in the classroom next fall here at UM.

 What she learns may even help her with her own personal project, a book of stories and photos from the Minidoka Internment Camp, where thousands of Japanese-Americans from Alaska, Oregon and Washington were sent after Pearl Harbor. Minidoka is located on a parched sagebrush plain near Twin Falls, Idaho, near where Tamura grew up.

“It’s people, places and objects related to the camp,” said Tamura of the project she has been working on for several years now. “It’ll be a collection of what I’m able to piece together about it.”

Over the past few years, Tamura has spent vacation time traveling throughout the western United States and sending letters as far away as Japan to try to track down those affected by that sad segment of American history. Last August, Tamura's photo essay "Minidoka Memories" was published in Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Times' magazine.

For Tamura, the transition from the academic world at UM to the professional one in D.C. should not be hard to make. Her career thus far has been a mix of both.

Prior to her arrival at UM in the fall of 2002, Tamura was the photo editor for the Environmental News Network, a Web site based in Ketchum, Idaho, from December 1999 until April 2000. She later taught black and white photography to middle school and high school students at the Community School in Ketchum. From 1993 to 1999, Tamura was a staff photographer for the Seattle Times.

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