By Amanda Snyder

HAMBURG, NY- Hilbert College hosted international photojournalist and Buffalo resident Brendan Bannon as its 2016 artist-in-residence.

Bannon teamed up with the campus community to work on his current project, “Untold Stories.” Students and staff have contributed story ideas to Bannon, who has made it his mission to capture the stories through a series of photo essays that are local to the Buffalo area.

Bannon explained his photo essays as a series of photos that gives one insight into a story, sets a scene, shows an action, or provides detail that people may otherwise not notice. As a Buffalo native, Bannon is currently exploring the area in hope to find an “untold story.”

Bannon has also been given the opportunity to present his work and talk to classes about what his work is all about. To the students in the journalism practicum course, Bannon stated, “I like to see the very real and human moments of a life. Especially through the eyes of children,” as he referred to his return from his most recent project with Syrian Refugees.

Bannon has taught photography workshops to children in refugee camps – including those in Rwanda and Syria — to provide the students with a grounding in photography that is geared toward personal expression. The program he taught at the camps, called, “Do You See What I See?” gave voice to those whose stories needed to be told, he said. Through the refugees’ own photos, the program also has helped the rest of the world get a realistic and humanizing portrait of refugees.

As an internationally recognized photojournalist, Bannon has worked with the United Nations, UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency, and other organizations, along with the New York Times.