Jono Spear and his wife, Sarah, at their wedding in August 2021.

CEDARVILLE — At age 14, Jono Spear worked a landscaping job to save money for his first camera. Little did he know this would eventually lead to a successful photography business that would pay for his education at Cedarville University.

Now, he’s both a college graduate and a successful business owner.

Spear, from South Bend, Indiana, grew up with eight siblings, and it was one of his older brothers who sparked his interest in photography. After purchasing a beginning-level camera, Spear watched YouTube videos and read as many photography blogs as he could to help him understand the technical elements of photography.

During middle school, he gained experience taking photographs of his siblings and senior portraits for friends.

“I wasn’t old enough to have my driver’s license, so if a friend asked me to take their family photos I would say ‘yes, but you’re going to have to pick me up,’ ” said Spear.

A pivotal moment came when a couple asked Spear to photograph their wedding.

“From that wedding, another couple saw those photos and liked them, and I photographed more weddings, and it snowballed from there. I decided that I wanted to primarily do weddings and engagements,” said Spear.

Jono Spear Photography became an official business prior to the start of his freshman year at a community college.

Entering college, Spear dreamed of pursuing a degree in business so he could become an insurance agent. He altered this plan after feeling led to enter full-time ministry. He decided to transfer to Cedarville University so he could major in biblical studies.

“After visiting Cedarville, it just felt like home. I could tell the people and the professors genuinely cared about me, and I love that Cedarville stands for the authority of the Word of God,” said Spear.

During Spear’s time at Cedarville, he met his wife, Sarah, during their first year. Now they both are photographers in the family photography business. After graduation in May, Spear will serve as the student ministry director at his home church, Gospel City, in Granger, Indiana.

“The pastor who was my youth pastor will be mentoring me and training me in the position. God saved me when I was 16, and he’s given me a love for students,” said Spear.

Spear hopes to continue his photography career during his full-time ministry job.

“I know I can’t maintain the capacity of a full-time photography studio while doing ministry, but I hope to still do photography because it’s such a blast.”

Healing Waters a new biographical film about acclaimed photographer Linda Troeller, will make its premiere at the New Jersey International Film Festival.

Directed by Derek Johnson and Ali Scattergood, the film tells the story of Troeller’s life and career, focusing on her groundbreaking work documenting healing experiences in mineral springs and the female vision.

Troeller’s powerful photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide and published in numerous books and magazines. Her work is known for its raw and intimate portrayal of the human body and her dedication to showcasing the beauty and complexity of the human form through the female gaze.

In “Healing Waters,” Troeller’s photographs come to life as the film takes viewers through her life and work. From her early days as a student to living in New York City and her travels around the world photographing women from diverse cultures and backgrounds, the film provides a unique insight into Troeller’s creative process and her passion for her art.

The film also explores Troeller’s personal tragedy, including her own healing journey with water therapy and the progression of her career path. Through interviews with Troeller herself, as well as with friends, family, and colleagues, “Healing Waters” offers a powerful and intimate portrait of one of the most important female photographers of our time.

“We are thrilled to be premiering ‘Healing Waters’ at the New Jersey International Film Festival,” said director Derek Johnson. “Linda Troeller’s work has had a profound impact on the art world, and we are honored to be able to tell her story on the big screen.”

“We hope that Linda’s resilience and creativity will inspire audiences and will come away from the film with a deeper appreciation for the power of art to heal and transform,” added director Ali Scattergood.

 Sheila.                                                                                                             Je n’ai jamais compris l’agressivité des gens des médias envers Sheila, dans les années 1960. Voilà une môme partie de rien, exploitée comme personne, qui a travaillé plus que tous les autres, et les journalistes d’une certaine presse ont pris un malin plaisir à la descendre en flèche pendant quinze ans, sans aucune raison. Ils lui ont tout fait jusqu’à prétendre qu’elle était un homme, comme ça, pour…

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The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

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Key takeaways:

• All participants agreed the experience was “positive,” “helpful” or “valuable.”
• 85% of attendees agreed that the event made them feel better about their skin and accepting of people with visible difference.

The photographic exhibition of those with congenital melanocytic nevi had a significant positive impact on participants and attendees, demonstrating options for psychological interventions, according to a study.

“As recently as 25 years ago, it was common practice in the U.K. for children with extensive birthmarks to be advised to hide their birthmarks as much as possible, with separate changing areas made available for them at school, and routine avoidance of sports such as swimming or dancing that might lead to a birthmark being seen,” Morgan B. Zolkwer, BSc, PhD student at the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Centre for Appearance Research, and colleagues wrote. “Although well meant, the message was essentially that there was something ‘wrong’ with the child, and that it was something shameful to be hidden. It is not surprising in this societal context that birthmarks could lead to psychological distress.”

Zolkwer and colleagues conducted a photoshoot and public art display of individuals with extensive congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) called “How do you C Me Now?” to evaluate its impact on individuals’ self-confidence and the public’s perception.

Caring Matters Now, a U.K. charity supporting those affected by CMN, partnered with a photographer for the study. Thirty participants (age range, 7 months to 47 years; 21 females) were photographed for approximately 3 hours in a London studio, with the first hour dedicated to ensuring the participants were at ease.

Participants or a parent completed a pre- and post-photography questionnaire addressing their experience during the shoot and their self-perception before and after the event. Of the more than 8,000 exhibit attendees, 464 completed an on-site survey detailing their opinions of the photographs.

Results showed that 100% of participants reported that the photographic experience was “positive,” “helpful” or “valuable” and 90% reported that the experience made them feel better about their appearance.

Participants also reported an increase in self-confidence. Before the event, 33.3% of participants reported that their CMN dictated what they wore compared with 8.9% after the event. On a scale of 1 to 10, mean confidence scores rose from 7.1 before the event to 9 after the event.

Of those who attended the exhibition, 51% had heard of CMN and 11% had CMN themselves. Results from the on-site survey showed that more than 85% of respondents agreed that the event improved how they felt about their own skin, increased acceptance of their own looks and made them more accepting of people with visible difference.

Traditionally, photographs of individuals with extensive birthmarks have been used for medical indications only. However, this study suggests that photography that focuses on the individual rather than the condition may benefit patients’ self-confidence and self-perceptions, according to the researchers.

“While the participants could be argued to already have robust self-perception to put themselves forward for such an experience, the clear demonstration here of measurable beneficial psychological impact afterwards compared to before is a radical proof of concept,” Zolkwer and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, in the era of social media, where the negative psychological effects of posting self-photographs are frequently reported, the positive effect of this exhibition on the views of the general public is a perhaps surprising demonstration of the power of this novel approach.”

Over the years, we’ve published some great stories on why you should photograph the details in landscape photography (most recently in January this year).

It’s a genre we encourage people to try as intimate imagery can make for compelling photos, while also giving you a more diverse portfolio of work that will help distinguish you from the masses shooting traditional wide angle shots.

If you need further convincing, this video above from landscape photographer Adam Gibbs discusses how to find and photograph smaller details in landscape photography, particularly in forests. It’s a really well-done video that should give you some food for thought.

Check out the video above, and you can see more of Adam’s videos on YouTube.

Cover image: Mike O’Connor