LSU Photographer Wins 2024 PhotoShelter UPAA Grant

At the University Photographers’ Association of America (UPAA) Symposium, we awarded the PhotoShelter UPAA Grant to a deserving university photographer. This year’s winner is Katherine Seghers, University Photographer at Louisiana State University (LSU). 

We chatted with Katherine about her career, grant submission, upcoming project, and love for the UPAA community.

Tell me about yourself. How did you get into photography and where you are today?

KS: I’m originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Grew up here. I did spend 7-8 years out of state and then moved back when I got my job here at LSU.

I’ve had the windy path to photography. I was a theater major at one point as a design tech. I have a diploma in audio engineering. And then I finally said, “Screw it. I’m going back to school and finishing my degree.” And it was in commercial photography. I was living in Nashville at that point, worked at Ohio State for a couple of years in Student Life Marketing, and then moved back home to LSU.

This was specifically the job that I wanted. If you grew up in Baton Rouge, you’re either naturally in love with it, or you’re just brainwashed. It just comes with the territory. We used to take school trips to campus for various things. We would go visit Mike the Tiger on a regular basis. It’s just in your blood.

Tell me about your UPAA grant application. What’s the photo project you’re pursuing?

KS: It’s been a project I’ve been wanting to start for years. The challenge and the problem of coastal land loss is so close to home. We live a couple of hours away from the coast. You can go down there and see how much it’s changed, even in my lifetime.

At LSU, one of our priorities is all things coast. We have a place called the Center for River Studies, which mostly studies the bottom portion of the Mississippi River, and how it goes into the Gulf. I joke that it’s one of my favorite places that’s technically off campus. It’s both beautiful and haunting, because it shows that in the next 50 years, this is the land we’re gonna lose.

So this is a topic that’s been a major part of my life, especially since moving home. And for me, it’s always about the people. Looking at diverting a river is not going to impact someone as much as seeing the people who’ve literally lost their homes and their livelihoods. It’s changed. The fishing industry has changed. Water has risen so much that if you just get some wind, it blows the water in and there’s just so much devastation.

So I asked myself, how can I use my gift of photography to help that? I always wanted an element of giving back. So my goal is to get this published, and then be able to give back a very large portion of those proceeds to the nonprofits down here.

I plan to document the way of life. I’ll do portraits, but I also want to do more photojournalistic stuff as well. If they’re going fishing, I want to go tag along and get pictures of that too.

I’m really inspired by Cristina Mittermeier and her work. So, being able to use photography for conservation is the goal.

What do you plan to do with the money?

KS: I definitely want to buy some new lighting equipment. The equipment I own is all stuff that we use in the studio. Because this is personal, I’m not going to be dragging out my stuff from work.

I want to get battery operated lighting equipment, so that both my traditional portraits and any environmental portraits have a little more pop. That’s the main thing.

What does this grant mean to you?

KS: It means the world to me… The fact that PhotoShelter supports me and gives me that encouragement as a photographer.

It’s gonna allow me to really create what I see in my head. We all have those pre-visualizations. This way, I won’t be stuck with just window light and I can take it from more basic to a more elaborate look — while still maintaining the message behind it.

I know most of us deal with imposter syndrome all the time. Having that vote of confidence from a group as great as PhotoShelter, who looks at all of the applicants… That’s huge.

Katherine Seghers, University Photographer at LSU

I’m excited to get started. I get to play with light. And now I have a mission.

What does UPAA and that community mean to you?

KS: UPAA is everything. I mean, really and truly. It’s the most supportive, encouraging, and inspiring group of people I’ve ever met.

Being able to talk to people who are doing the same thing as you is fantastic. We might have different budgets, we might have slightly different plans, but you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. They’re all so open and honest, and they help you every time.

We compete. But we also love each other. It’s like competing with your siblings. I cannot speak highly enough of the organization and that community.

Click here to learn more about the University Photographers’ Association of America and read our interview with 2023 grant winner, Matt Stamey.