Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Preston Gannaway To Deliver Hosokawa Journalism Lecture at Whitman
By Lina Paykar ’29
Picture window. “EJ in Window” (2006) is from Preston Gannaway’s ongoing “Remember Me” series, which chronicles the life of a boy after the death of his mother.
Whitman College will welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning photo documentarian Preston Gannaway to deliver this year’s Hosokawa Journalism Lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in Reid Campus Center’s Young Ballroom. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Picturing Powerful Stories
Gannaway is an independent documentary photographer and artist best known for her long-term project “Remember Me,” which earned the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. This ongoing project, now in its 20th year, follows the life of a boy named EJ after the death of his mother and explores themes of memory, loss, masculinity and mortality.
Based in Northern California and originally from North Carolina, Gannaway centers her work on the relationships between the individual, community and landscape. During the lecture, she will share images from “Remember Me” and discuss the deep, long-term relationships that evolve through photography and community journalism.
The passage of time. “Rich and EJ in Boy Scouts Uniforms” (2018) is an award-winning photograph from Preston Gannaway’s ongoing project “Remember Me,” which is now in its 20th year.
Gannaway’s work has been widely exhibited and collected, and she regularly commissions for publications and brands, including The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, and Airbnb. Her books include “Between the Devil and the Deep Sea” (self-published, 2014) and “Remember Me” (GOST Books, 2023).
In addition to the lecture, Gannaway will spend two days on campus engaging with the Whitman community. She will meet with staff in the Office of Communications and the Whitman Wire, visit the Photography Club, and speak with students in Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Robin North’s photography classes.
About the Lecture
The Hosokawa Journalism Lecture is held annually in combination with the Hosokawa Student Journalism Awards. Robert Hosokawa ’40 served as Editor of the student newspaper and Senior Class President at Whitman College. During World War II, Hosokawa was interned at Camp Harmony, where he helped create a handwritten newspaper called the Camp Harmony Hooey. He went on to have a prestigious career in journalism and became a beloved journalism professor. Read more about his legacy.