Longtime SCAT professor marks milestones with photo exhibit

It was a weekend of many milestones for Edward Trayes, communications professor, as he celebrated 40 years of teaching and his 65th birthday with a special exhibition of photographs.

The photographs were taken this past January during a trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. The exhibit took place Saturday night in the Joe First Media Center atrium, with more than 40 large prints on display. The highlight of the evening was a 32-minute slide show of Trayes’ photographs accompanied by the airy melodies of Enya.

“I just realized in February or March, ‘You know, this is going to be about 40 years of teaching for me’,” said Trayes, who taught for three years at Seton Hall University and one year at the University of Iowa before arriving at Temple in 1967. “I was thinking an exhibit might be fun.

“The evening is about friendship and sharing the road with a bunch of good people,” he added.

The photographs ran the gamut from nature shots of butterflies, flowers and misty landscapes, to abstract silhouettes of pillars and beams; from portraits of random villagers to the majesty of Buddhist temples set against the blue sky.

The exhibit was not only a journey to a world half a world away, it was the world premiere of works from the man who created the JPRA photography concentration.

“Here you are and you’ve taught photography all your life, and none of your students have seen your work,” said Trayes, who has helped numerous students go on to successful careers in photojournalism, two of whom went on to win Pulitzer Prizes.

“I think one of the keys to my teaching is that I’ve always wanted my students to be better than I am,” said Trayes, who received Temple’s Great Teacher Award in 1996. “The people who do the program can get their stuff on the Web and make books, and it empowers them.”

Trayes’ contributions to the JPRA department extend beyond photography. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses, including news editing, media management, communication research, publication graphics and design, and electronic information gathering. He was also the prime mover behind The Journalist’s Compass, a Web resource for journalists with more than 4,000 links.

A 1997 Freedom Forum Teacher of the Year, Trayes is the director of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Editing and Minority Intern Program, which he helped start in 1967. The program is designed to give students hands-on editing experience at nationally renowned newspapers such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal and Newsday.

Whether teaching photography or gearing students up for editing careers, Trayes maintains that his classes are about more than learning a particular skill.

“It’s about the kids; it’s not about photography,” he said. “It’s tools for life, being open to the ideas of others, sharing visions and views and appreciating what other people can bring.”

In addition to his work at Temple, Trayes served as a consultant to newspapers and magazines across the U.S., as well in Mexico and Central and South America, for more than 30 years. He was also the founding editor of Mass Communication Review, an international journal for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), which he edited from 1972 to 1986. In honor of his efforts with that publication, the AEJMC established an award in his name.

Trayes hopes to continue his photographic journey with a visit to China, Tibet and Nepal, and, later, a trip down the coastline of Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego.

“I’m trying to make more time for photography than I have in the past,” he said. “I think, for me, photography just enhances every experience because it causes you to look at things and experience them in ways you wouldn’t without a camera. It gives you a visual voice.”

— Abny Santicola