This week our Photo Media class was conducting field work at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, a small tourist town built on year-round mineral hot springs. Warmed by the same lava activity that powers the famous geysers of nearby Yellowstone National Park, Lava Hot Springs is conveniently nestled in the Portneuf River valley in Bannock County. Photo students were here replicating the ZipUSA project, which had been done several times in the National Geographic magazine. This field work gave photojournalist students the opportunity to hone both their photo and interviewing skills on a lovely spring day in the Rockies!
Here’s some shots of the students about town and my own B&W interpretation of Lava Hot Springs:
Amy Millward, a photography student at Idaho State University, practices her interviewing skills with local residents of Lava Hot Springs, during a recent field work assignment.
Left to right: Mike Ritchie, Stefanie Call, Dustin Nicholas, and Andrew Simmons on a recent photo trip to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. Photo Media students were photographing and interviewing local residents of the community in order to capture a sense of place.
Corey Bridges (left) hands off a stack of menues to the waitperson at the Chuck Wagon Restaurant in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho on April 10, 2014 while Ed Ritterbush ponders his order of sizzling fajitas. Photo Media students from Idaho State University’s photography program were replicating the National Geographic’s ZipUSA Project that investigates small communities in order to visually record a sense of place.
Ed Ritterbush, a photography student at Idaho State University, finally gets to savor his sizzling fajitas in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.
Outside the Arcade in Lava Hot Springs, sits an incredible 1957 Chevy “Nomad” Bel Air station wagon.
Hot mineral baths at the Home Hotel & Motel in downtown Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.
Mineral Baths available at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.
Photo Media @ ISU 