The Oklahoman’s photojournalism exhibit details state’s past

ENID, Okla. — For photojournalists, the old adage “a picture’s worth a thousand words” is less important than ensuring that each photograph effectively tells a single story.

“It’s very easy for a photographer just out taking pictures to get these kind of staged half-smiles,” said Jake Krumwiede, director of Enid’s Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, told The Oklahoman. “But it’s a skill to be able to visually tell a story, and it’s certainly not one that everyone has. So, I’ve always very much appreciated photojournalism, because it’s not something that everyone can do well.”

The Enid museum is the latest stop for the Oklahoma Historical Society’s venerable exhibition “50 Years of Photojournalism at The Oklahoman,” which features more than 50 photographs taken between 1950 and 2000 by staff photographers at the newspaper.

With about 10 images dedicated to each decade of the last half of the 20th century, the exhibit covers every facet of news gathering, including breaking news, politics, entertainment, sports and features. The exhibit runs the gamut from the aftermath of the Edmond Post Office massacre and the success of the University of Oklahoma’s wishbone offence to the popularity of the Oklahoma City Zoo’s elephant Judy and the triumphant OKC parade honouring Gemini astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan.

“That’s one of the ones that stands out to me, because those were the heroes of those times,” said Lori Oden, director of exhibits for the Oklahoma Historical Society, of the astronauts’ image. “It has a very nostalgic feel to it.”

The exhibit “50 Years of Photojournalism at The Oklahoman” initially was displayed at the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2001, following a run at the state capitol. The late Jim Argo, The Oklahoman’s photo editor, and then-Managing Editor Sue Hale worked with the late Roger Harris, an archivist and oral historian at the historical society, to put together the exhibit.

“It is something that can travel and remind people of our story,” said Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Bob Blackburn. “In the Instagram world, people want to see images. These photos give people the snapshot of history, one moment, one day, one group of people, one event at a time. It’s a way that we can connect people with their community’s history.”

After the exhibit, Blackburn and Argo collaborated on the 2006 book “Images of History: The Oklahoman Collection,” which was released in time for the 2007 state centennial. In 2012, The Oklahoman donated its photo archive of more than 1.4 million images to the historical society.

“By reaching into that reservoir of memories and images, we can tell different stories. We’re still resurrecting that one exhibit for Enid. But we’re using images from it for the OKPOP Museum,” Blackburn said, adding that ground was broken on a recent Wednesday on the Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa.

“We’re not through with this thing. We’re still using it for good causes and telling stories and establishing sense of place and allowing people to understand the story of Oklahoma.”

Oden said “50 Years of Photojournalism at The Oklahoman” is available through the historical society’s travelling exhibits program and is shown every couple of years at various venues. It recently has been exhibited at Oklahoma City Community College, the University of Arkansas — Fort Smith and last year at the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum in Woodward.

“That tells me that it still evokes a response, which is great,” she said.

In between evocative images of the sun shining on the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial, Miss America 1981 Susan Powell recording a song from the musical “Oklahoma!” and a sister at OKC’s Villa Teresa School teaching youngsters to dance, colorful sticky notes dot the walls of the Enid museum, where the photo exhibit is on view through Nov. 8.

“You can write down what you remember of what was happening in that year, where you were, what does this picture make you feel and stick it up on the wall by the picture. We do come through every so often and take down some of them; otherwise, our walls would just be covered in Post-It Notes,” said Amy Johnson, curator of collections at the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center.

One of her favourites is a 1959 image of an old woman praying on the day whiskey went on sale in the state for the first time, she said.

“People always think of history as a long time ago. But it’s not. History is 1970 because it was 50 years ago, and that’s the official definition of history … even if it’s within living memory,” she said. “Even when it’s mundane, it’s still somebody’s memory. It’s still history. And without the photojournalist taking a picture of it, people wouldn’t notice it. People would have forgotten. It just would have slipped from time.”

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com

An AP Member Exchange shared by The Oklahoman.

Brandy McDonnell, The Associated Press