If you’ve met Stephanie Welling, you’ve also met her camera. Since she got to Pittsburgh in August 2011, Welling’s been a walking time capsule for the everyday treasures on Woodland Road. She’s the Photo Blog Editor for Her Campus Chatham, a role she takes seriously: “I’ve always tried to capture a combination of both the scenic beauty of Chatham’s campus and the wonderful, familial atmosphere of our community,” she says. But while you’re used to seeing campus through her eyes, a long evolution led her to the lens.
Welling’s journey started almost 3,000 miles away in Sacramento, California. “The early years of my life were spent in Sacramento, and those memories of drives in torrential downpours and impossibly flat, desert-like landscapes that seemingly have no end continue to influence my work,” she says. Her family later relocated to Placerville. “It’s the tiniest town that no one’s ever heard of but has that undeniably picturesque small town feeling that sticks with you once you leave.”
After high school, Welling attended community college for a few years, only discovering her passion in the last months she was there. “By that time, I’d already changed my major countless times and was beginning to feel listless and unmotivated about college in general,” she says. “I didn’t think I was particularly good at anything, and I’d just have to resort to a major I had no interest in so I could have a career I’d have no passion for.” After briefly exploring Film Studies, Welling started playing with still photography on her video camera. “I’ve honestly never felt so ridiculously happy about something I’ve made,” she says. “I rediscovered the beauty of my surroundings and the beauty of a moment and the beauty of life in general and I knew I had found something worth holding onto.”
With a new course of study in mind, Welling started researching schools. “As much as I love the west coast, I’d been there my entire life and wanted a new coast to discover.” Welling fell in love with Chatham from afar; she enrolled to pursue a degree in Media Arts with concentrations in Photography and Graphic Design. “I’ve gotten the wonderful opportunity to work with some truly wonderful artists on a variety of projects, and I will always cherish that,” she says. “My classes here have pushed me to test my imagination and sense of what I can do with a camera.”
In November 2011, Stephanie Welling co-edited the HC Chatham Photo Blog with Kayla Clem. When Clem went on to be the Event Planner for 2011/2012, Welling took on the position full-time. With nearly a year’s worth of her photography up on the site, she says her favorite part of the job is “having the chance to show people what I find beautiful about Chatham (which is basically everything).”
Of course, Welling steps out from behind the camera often. “I’m an avid reader, a horror movie connoisseur (or so I’d like to think), an active member of the amazing YouTube community, a girl that likes Pad Thai a little too much, and someone who will always get coffee with you because I seriously drink way too much coffee.”
As Welling explores everything that life at Chatham has to offer, she’s still figuring out her next step. When asked about her future career, she replies, “All I know is that my dream job will involve photography, a community of truly wonderful fellow artists, the freedom to travel, and a genuine love for what I’m doing.”
While graduation is still a while off, the love is already there. “It’s not even a job, really,” she says. “It’s just a beautiful thing that I get to do.”