Caption:
Curt Chandler helps Bob Lynn edit his book “Vision, Courage, Heart”. Photo courtesy Bob Lynn
Curtis William Chandler | Feb. 27, 1957 - Jan. 31, 2022
By Sarah Elissa Dolgin
Feb. 4, 2022 - Curt Chandler spent his 64 years of life mastering the art of storytelling. While he enjoyed many years in the field, it became his passion to teach others to create new and exciting ways to practice visual journalism, whether he was in a professional newsroom or in a college classroom.
Chandler died in Pittsburgh on Jan. 31, 2022, of pancreatic cancer.
Chandler was known for his drive to help his colleagues, students, family and friends succeed in life. No matter the size of the challenge at hand, Chandler’s loved ones were in awe of his unwavering positivity when overcoming difficult situations.
“It's just how much he cared: how much he cared for the story, for the person, for journalism,” said Will Yurman, a colleague at Penn State and close friend of Chandler’s.
Prior to becoming an educator, Chandler transformed his newspaper writing degree from Northwestern University into a career of visual journalism and multimedia content management.
From freelancing in Chicago, to writing and practicing photography in Colorado, to working as chief photographer at the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah, to working as a photographer at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and then as the director of photography — and later the first editor for online innovation due to his natural technical talent — of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Chandler collected a unique set of media industry experiences that would contribute to his exemplary teaching career.
“I hired Curt twice and tried to do it a third time,” said Bill Ostendorf, Chandler’s graduate school roommate and dear friend. “He was the consummate professional. He was a journalist, a storyteller, a great communicator and a team player. If you gave the choice assignment to someone else, he would never be jealous or angry; he would know that whatever assignment he got was important. He really found his calling teaching photojournalism, videography and storytelling to college students. He was a great teacher: He was passionate, he was professional, he was patient.”
To Ostendorf, Chandler’s and his desire to explore careers in visual storytelling was something they had not been trained to do. They were trained as professional reporters, but in the blossoming digitization of the media, they became self-taught photographers and influential photojournalists in the field.
Though Chandler did not learn how to be a photojournalist at school, his passion for the craft became highly regarded technical skills that fellow journalists relied upon as expertise.
“I would frequently reach out to him for technical advice in terms of our classes, and he was a sage. He had an infinite amount of knowledge of technical things and approaches to teaching,” said Thomas Franklin, renowned photographer and a friend of Chandler’s.
Ostendorf described his time working at The Plain Dealer with Chandler as one with many challenges. As young men in their 20s, entering a newsroom of journalists who had been there for many decades was not easy for the duo. Oftentimes, the older photographers did not see eye to eye with Ostendorf’s strategies for coverage, and he found himself frustrated. When he tried to send multiple photographers to events to ensure a variety of coverage opportunities, his colleagues took offense that he was not giving one person the chance to tackle the job.
Chandler took the time to connect with the longtime photographers at the paper and let them know that sending multiple photographers to an event had little to do with their skill and was a common strategy to enhance the photo presence and options. Ostendorf admiringly acknowledged Chandler’s success in getting through to their older colleagues and working with them to bridge the age gap and work as a team. The grace and determination demonstrated by Chandler at such a young age to dissolve workplace tension foreshadowed his future in patiently mentoring young creatives.
Chandler began teaching photojournalism at Duquesne University during his time at the Post-Gazette, and in 2007, he took a full-time job as a professor at Penn State’s College of Communications. The same year, Chandler received the National Press Photographers Association’s (NPPA) Morris Berman Citation.
“He was always passionate about finding ways to tell stories. He was always willing to try new technologies to push himself and push students to do whatever it takes to get the best story possible,” Yurman said.
Chandler found purpose in forging bonds with fellow visual journalists and spent time discussing journalism through a critical lens with those in the field. He wanted to identify problems in the field and work through ways to improve the industry he knew and loved dearly.
One of the journalists Chandler worked with was his friend Bob Lynn. Chandler spent time uploading the two’s conversations in which they discussed visual journalism to his blog, and edited the NPPA Joseph A. Sprague Award winner’s book “Vision, Courage & Heart.”
With the news of Chandler’s passing, Lynn woke up throughout the night trying to think of how to best articulate his love and appreciation for Chandler. As the hours passed, he was able to jot down his thoughts on and off to commemorate his dear friend.
“Curt was one of the finest persons I have ever known. All of the positive adjectives that people use to describe someone they admire would apply to Curt. He was a kind, caring person, a loving husband, father and friend. He was understanding, compassionat, and nonjudgmental. He had a great sense of humor, loved to tell funny stories, he was very bright, and he was one hell of a journalist and one hell of a teacher. He was so special in so many ways,” Lynn said.
Along with teaching college classes, Chandler was part of workshop presentations for the NPPA along with other organizations and spent days teaching at photojournalism workshops for the Northern Short Course and at various universities.
“I met Curt at the multimedia workshop at Syracuse. I came to love the guy right away. He had this really infectious, positive spirit that just permeated the whole workshop. And he had a great combination of technical knowledge, passion for storytelling and empathy for students trying to learn,” photographer Thomas Franklin said.
At the end of the workshops, when the tables and chairs were folded and taken away, and the patience of the venue staff was teetering after hosting professors and students for hours on end, Chandler would be the last man standing — still in high spirits. If a student needed more feedback or attention, regardless of the human need to eat, sleep or simply take a break, Chandler would not leave until he had tended to that person’s needs.
“We spent many nights reviewing student portfolios at conferences like the Northern Short Course. We would always have this night where students could come and there would be ‘pros’ there who would review their portfolios and give them feedback. Curt was always one of the last pros to leave. He stayed until the room was closed and the hotel kicked us out, or the last student had had enough. He often outlasted the students in how late he could stay there talking about photography. He had one of the longest lines of people to see him of any of the pros who came,” Ostendorf said.
Not only was Chandler a comfort to his students and colleagues, he was just as dedicated to being a supportive friend in his personal life. Ostendorf said that coincidentally, his children ended up in college near Chandler, and Chandler’s children ended up in college near Ostendorf.
“When he was at the Pittsburgh Post, my son was at Pitt. When he was teaching at Penn State, my daughter was going to Penn State. When I was at The Providence Journal, here in Rhode Island, his son went to Roger Williams. So, you know, it really created a bond because there was a safe haven for [our] kids when they went off to college.”
One night, Ostendorf’s daughter took a late bus ride home and could not catch any cabs from the bus stop. He said it was dark and well before the time of Ubers and easy means of transportation. Unsure what to do, Ostendorf’s daughter called Chandler, and he immediately came and got her home safely. No matter the context or time of day, Chandler was known for showing up for the people in his life when they needed any kind of help.
Yurman recalled a time when he and Chandler held a session about multimedia at the Northern Short Course. He chuckled as he explained that only one person showed up for the discussion. While such a small turnout may have seemed comical or discouraging to many, Chandler was “as energetic to that room of one person as he would be talking to 100 people.”
Chandler zeroed in on the individual goals and strengths of each of his students and found joy in working as a mentor. He always looked forward to seeing where his students would end up in the future, believing that they would become greatly successful. Yurman said Chandler was not loved by students for easy grading or leniency. He was championed by his students for his investment in their growth and his honesty.
Many professors dread looking themselves up on ratemyprofessors.com, as it is an anonymous website students use to communicate their thoughts and feelings about classes and professors. Chandler’s page is filled to the brim with positive comments from students, urging their peers to take his class.
“One of the best professors in Penn State if you’re a communications major, his lectures are extremely interesting and relevant to current events so it’s never boring,” one student wrote.
Another wrote: “Curt is a great guy. I wish I could have had him in person, he is very passionate about journalism and his lectures.” Pages upon pages of ratings read nearly identical statements from students who loved Chandler as a person and a professor.
“He always gave students the benefit of the doubt, but he would tell them honestly what the work needed and push them and challenge them. He was always there for students. If any student wanted help, they could find Curt,” Yurman said.
Teaching was not just a job to Chandler: He cared beyond the classroom. He looked at each student as a person with great potential and identified their strengths as storytellers to help them find themselves as aspiring journalists. Not only did he hope that they would succeed, he kept up with students and eagerly awaited and watched their futures unfold.
“He really saw the best traits in his students. He would always say, ‘Wow, this student really knew how to do this,’ and ‘This student was really good at that,’ and ‘I can't wait to see where this student lands.’ He really loved seeing where they landed; how they took those strengths and turned them into success,” Ostendorf said.
Franklin is currently a professor at Montclair State University and feels that watching Chandler teach at workshops helped him learn how to address the challenging side of teaching. Franklin remembered a time at the workshop when he was getting discouraged while trying to help a student in the editing stage of a project. The student had a very different idea as to how he wanted to approach the project, and Franklin was recommending an alternative way of doing so. Chandler saw the building tension between the two, and “in a way that only Curt could, asked if he could step in.”
“He connected with this student beautifully, magnificently, and remained calm and compassionate and helpful to this student. I learned so much from just witnessing that; just being able to see his calm, confident, competent approach to teaching. I took away from that a tremendous lesson, that teaching requires some patience, and sometimes there’s common ground that needs to be reached,” Franklin said.
When Chandler found out he was terminally ill, Ostendorf remarked upon his selfless reaction. In the face of tragedy and fleeting time, Chandler gathered and organized his massive collection of storytelling books and equipment and donated it to schools in need. With Chandler being known as a “gearhead,” one can only imagine the impact his immense array of tools will have on future generations of journalism students.
Ostendorf described Chandler’s priority to spend his last months paying his love for journalism forward and working to give all that he had — both physically and mentally — to helping aspiring storytellers find their own passions.
“He was this gentle, kind, incredibly smart, giving human being. He made me a better teacher; he made me, I think, a better person. And I know he did that for so many students,” Yurman said.
Sarah Elissa Dolgin is a journalism student at Syracuse University. She can be reached at [email protected] and on social media @sarahdolgin.
As a tribute to his impact and legacy, Chandler’s family, friends and the Bellisario College have established the “Chandler Grant for Storytelling,” a nonendowed fund intended to provide support for multimedia storytelling activities and programs, both domestic and abroad, for students. Gifts may be made to the fund to honor Chandler and provide a way to continue his impact and influence with students.
A memorial service will be held at Penn State at a later date.
Full obituary: Curtis William Chandler
Penn State story about Curt Chandler
