Windsor
That is the special thing about being a photographer at the Valley News. We don’t just care about the planned events or breaking news; we’re interested in what a regular day is like for our readers, whether they’re splitting wood, playing with their kids, or cutting someone’s hair.
There are plenty of instances where I’ve driven dozens of miles around back roads looking for interesting events to take photographs of for the paper, and nobody is doing anything of note in plain view.
Sometimes it takes several hours and over 100 miles before I stumble onto something I find visually compelling.
Other times, however, I don’t have to spend much time looking to find a unique, hidden event, thanks to a member of the community.
These are my favorite instances, when people recognize the vision at the Valley News, and let us know of something that we should chronicle.
Late last spring, Victoria Richardson, then a Windsor High School senior, called the paper to let us know about a prank her class would be playing by bringing their pets to school the next morning.
I was working the early shift the next day, and was given her cellphone number to figure out what time the prank was to be carried out.
As we talked via text message that night, I thought about how moments like this were and are my favorite part about being a photographer with the Valley News.
We’re shown windows of lives, given access to one-of-a-kind moments and allowed to connect to our neighbors and share their stories.
When I showed up early at Windsor High School the next morning and saw a horse eating grass on the front lawn, dogs running pell-mell around the parking lot and a chicken on a leash,
I laughed out loud, knowing I’d be able to make an interesting and humorous photo that I’d never have found without the help of the community.
— Sarah Priestap